For as long as we could all remember, we’ve been having to set our clocks in accordance with “fall back” each autumn or “spring forward” each spring. The purpose of this is to have earlier sunrises in the winter, and later sunsets in the summer. However, this may be coming to an end soon. On July 14, 2026, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Sunshine Protection Act (H.R. 139) by a 308–117 bipartisan vote. The bill would make daylight saving time (DST) permanent across most of the United States, meaning we would no longer have any time changes throughout the year, and would be sticking to the later schedule—with later sunrises and sunsets.
One of the main criticisms of this, is that this will lead to extremely late sunrises during winter months. According to many sources, sunrises may be as late as 9am in certain northern cities. For example, Indianapolis would see sunrise after 8:30am from mid-November through mid-February. Bismarck, North Dakota would have sunrises approaching 9:30am around the winter solstice. While this isn’t a horrendous concern on its own, many people are arguing that it could have dangerous effects—specifically on young children going to school. One of the main arguments I’ve seen against switching to permanent daylight time, is that it would be dangerous for children to go to school during dark winter mornings where the sun doesn’t rise until much later.
However, this should not be used to argue that we shouldn’t switch to permanent daylight time, this actually just shows why school start times should be much later. We, as a society should be asking ourselves: “why are our children having to go to school this early in the morning?” and more importantly, “is this beneficial for them?”. After looking at all of the research, the answer is clear—early school start times are not beneficial for students, and school start times should be pushed later along with this move to permanent daylight savings time.
Now, the claim that darker mornings induced by permanent daylight savings time creates more dangerous conditions for schoolchildren is not unfounded. In 1974, America also made daylight savings time permanent for a short period of time—and the same concerns were shown. According to National Geographic:
“The Hartford Courant reported that four Connecticut teenagers were struck by cars on their way to school the day after daylight saving time took effect. In Florida—where Gov. Reubin Askew unsuccessfully urged U.S. lawmakers to switch back the clocks—eight students were fatally struck by vehicles within a few weeks.”
Along with this, The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) specifically identifies that children are at their greatest risk for a traffic accident while walking to and from bus stops. According to NHTSA, school-age pedestrian deaths related to school transportation occur disproportionately during the 6 – 8 am school commute period. These sources show that darker mornings are associated with dangers to children who are walking to school and the bus early. However, the main reason children would be going to school early in the morning has nothing to do with daylight savings time, and everything to do with horrendously early school start times. Even with the earlier, “standard” time being in effect during the winter months, thousands of children are still forced to go to school during pitch-black winter mornings because of the starting time.
When I was in highschool, my school started at 7:15 am, and in the winter, it was still incredibly dark while I was waiting outside for the bus. And I am far from the only student to have experienced this. According to data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), 10.4% of US public schools started before 7:30 am, and 32.1% of US public schools started between 7:30 – 7:59 am. This means that almost half of US public schools start early enough in the morning, that even under the current standard time, students would be going to school before the latest sunrises during the winter—meaning they would still be going to school in the dark even without daylight savings time being permanent.
Even if the start times themselves are later than the sunrises, students still have to walk to bus stops much earlier. Some students have to get to their bus stops 15 – 30 minutes before school starts, in order for the bus to have enough time to hit all of the stops, and take the students to school on time. This means the time that students would be outside walking to the stops and waiting for the buses would be much earlier than the already ridiculously early school start times. As previously discussed, students having to go to school in dark early mornings puts them at risk, and is a threat to their safety. Despite this, there is still such a large number of schools that maintain these early start times. The solution to this problem is clear: school start times should be pushed later, regardless of if we’re moving into permanent daylight savings time or not.
Outside of student safety concerns due to dark mornings, there is much more research on the benefits of later school start times for students. Research consistently shows that later school start times increase adolescents’ sleep duration. During puberty, teenagers experience a natural shift in their circadian rhythms that makes it difficult for them to fall asleep before approximately 11:00 pm, even though they still require about 8 – 10 hours of sleep each night. When schools begin very early in the morning, many students are forced to wake before they have obtained adequate sleep. The American Academy of Pediatrics has described chronic sleep deprivation among adolescents as an important public health issue and recommends that middle and high schools start no earlier than 8:30 a.m. to better align school schedules with adolescent biology. The organization concludes that later start times can improve students’ physical health, mental health, safety, and academic success.
A comprehensive review published in the Journal of School Health through the CDC examined 38 separate studies on school start times. The authors found that delaying school start times consistently increased weekday sleep duration, even when the delay was only 30 minutes. Beyond simply increasing sleep, the review found that later start times were generally associated with improved school attendance, reduced tardiness, fewer students falling asleep in class, higher grades, and lower rates of motor vehicle crashes involving teen drivers.
More recently, a 2022 meta-analysis published in Pediatrics synthesized findings from 28 studies involving more than 1.77 million students. The researchers found that later school start times were associated with better overall developmental outcomes, longer sleep duration, and lower levels of negative mood. Schools beginning between 8:30 and 8:59 am generally produced better outcomes than schools starting between 8:00 and 8:29 am.
Research also suggests that later start times can improve academic performance. According to researchers at the Brookings Institution summarizing multiple studies, delaying school start times has been associated with improvements in attendance, course grades, classroom behavior, and academic achievement among high school students. Their own research on North Carolina schools found that delaying middle school start times by one hour was associated with significantly higher standardized test scores in both mathematics and reading.
All of these studies show that beyond the safety concerns, later school start times benefit student health by allowing for more sleep and benefits academic performance as well. Taking all of these sources together—there is a clear trend—later school start times are objectively better for students. So if we’re moving to permanent daylight savings time, and late morning sunrises, this is the perfect excuse to push school start times later as well. Students deserve more sleep, improved safety, and school schedules that actually match their biology to give them the best possible results. If we want the best out of our students, pushing school start times later is the best way to support them.
The National Youth Rights Association
If you’re interested in Youth Rights, consider volunteering with us. We are always looking for new members and would love to have you on board. If you have a personal story to share, of how late school start times negatively impacted your life, or about a general youth rights violation, consider sending us an email at nyra@youthrights.org. We’d love to help get your story out to the world.
The text of Moving to Permanent Daylight Savings Time Means Schools Should Start Later © 2026 by Zane Miller is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
