Over the past few years, there has been more and more talk about later school start times. More specifically, later start times for high schoolers. Our society has changed immensely over the past few years. One major shift is understanding teens, sleep deprivation, and circadian rhythms.
According to Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, what has been found is that there are quite a few negative impacts taking place with teens when it comes to not getting enough sleep. These things include, but are not limited to:
According to the CDC, teens should get 8-10 hours of sleep; however, sleep experts have done their own studies that dwindle that down further. Sleep experts say that the same things that happen with too little sleep, happen with too much sleep. It is a very fine balance for teenagers and therefore, 8 hours is the target amount of sleep to be on point and prevent any negative side effects.
In 2014, the American Academy of Pediatrics published, "School Start Times for Adolescence." This was information taken from data involving sleep changes in adolescents (teens) that had been thoroughly reviewed and made a recommendation that middle and high school start times should begin after 8:30 am. The CDC along with many other national health organizations made the same recommendations.
Educators themselves have also made their voices heard on this subject stating that there is far more tardiness in schools that start earlier as well as kids not having the attention or stamina to last throughout the day. Parents have seen their kids come home completely exhausted after a day of school as well. Sleep deprivation leads to daytime drowsiness, and when a teen doesn't have time to catch up, it adds up, and as you have read, it has its consequences.
Related:
Later School Start Time Can Prevent Sleep Deprivation In Parents
Way back when there was this thing called, "The Baby Boom." All those children started going to school, and they just kept coming and coming. There weren't enough bus services to get around. It just happened that the oldest kids started earliest, and it went down from there.
There was no real reasoning behind it like nobody ran tests or anything to see if this was the most beneficial way possible, it's just what happened. Over time this seemed to work, as athletic programs seemed to work better, having earlier start times with kids getting out of school sooner, so it just continued on, and it is the same type of schedule that we see today in most districts.
According to The University of Washington, in some areas of the country school start times have already changed. But for those who haven't been affected by it, know this; it doesn't just happen overnight. There are plenty of things that would need to be worked out first. For starters, a system parents have been working their entire lives around for decades needs to be ironed out community-wide. Everyone needs to play along, basically.
Transportation was the biggest issue in most communities who have adapted to the time change, but they were able to figure things out and make it work.
The data received from the schools who have implemented this shows just as suspected:
Overall, it is up to the Board of Education to decide if they are going to implement this time change in your neighborhood. Knowing that it does truly make a difference in the lives of the kids already doing it is a major bonus; after all, everyone wants the best for their children, don't they?
Sources:
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, CDC, American Academy of Pediatrics, University of Washington
National Library of Medicine