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Friday, July 26, 2013

Starting High School Later May Help Sleepy Teens

Quinn Cooney of Mill Creek, Wash., is excited about starting high school in September, but she's not looking forward to waking up at 5:30 a.m. to arrive on time. Classes for ninth-graders start at 7:30 a.m., 45 minutes earlier than they did in middle school.

"I think it is going to be harder to get up," said Quinn, 13. "I do think it is better to start early so that we can be finished early and do things after school, but I am worried that if I have a boring class for my first period that it will be hard to stay awake."

Decades of sleep research have confirmed what parents know: It's hard for teenagers to wake up early. Some high schools have adopted late starts around 8:30 a.m. to improve attendance and performance. But other districts say it's too complicated to shift schedules because of logistics involving buses and after-school activities.

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7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Again...a common sense idea that will never see the light of day b/c it makes too much sense.

Anonymous said...

90% of these new high school students will be on the governments teet anyway. Why should they have to get up? Most of America doesn't have to anymore.

Anonymous said...

They already do it where I live and it works great. Many teenager's work so the extra sleep helps them in school. Plus it takes teen girls forever to get ready in the morning. lol

Anonymous said...

I find that if I start with the time I have to get up and count back the number of hours that I want to sleep, and make that my bedtime....oh, wait....

Anonymous said...

But that's going to interfere with Mall time.

Anonymous said...

Had two a days in high school for football. For those not familiar it is practice before and after school. Never had any sleep issues.....

Anonymous said...

How will I find the six hours a day I need to text my friends?!