Could letting teenagers sleep later in the morning do more than just make them happy? New evidence suggests that a later start to the school day could have all sorts of benefits, like better grades and fewer car crashes. But some worry that pushing the school day back might get in the way of after-school sports and jobs, and wouldn’t leave students enough time to finish homework.
Should the school day start later?
In “To Keep Teenagers Alert, Schools Let Them Sleep In,” Jan Hoffman writes:
Jilly Dos Santos really did try to get to school on time. She set three successive alarms on her phone. Skipped breakfast. Hastily applied makeup while her fuming father drove. But last year she rarely made it into the frantic scrum at the doors of Rock Bridge High School here by the first bell, at 7:50 a.m.
Then she heard that the school board was about to make the day start even earlier, at 7:20 a.m.
“I thought, if that happens, I will die,” recalled Jilly, 17. “I will drop out of school!”
That was when the sleep-deprived teenager turned into a sleep activist. She was determined to convince the board of a truth she knew in the core of her tired, lanky body: Teenagers are developmentally driven to be late to bed, late to rise. Could the board realign the first bell with that biological reality?
The sputtering, nearly 20-year movement to start high schools later has recently gained momentum in communities like this one, as hundreds of schools in dozens of districts across the country have bowed to the accumulating research on the adolescent body clock.
In just the last two years, high schools in Long Beach, Calif.; Stillwater, Okla.; Decatur, Ga.;, and Glens Falls, N.Y., have pushed back their first bells, joining early adopters in Connecticut, North Carolina, Kentucky and Minnesota. The Seattle school board will vote this month on whether to pursue the issue. The superintendent of Montgomery County, Md., supports the shift, and the school board for Fairfax County, Va., is working with consultants to develop options for starts after 8 a.m.
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they'd just stay up later at night.
ReplyDeleteGee, I guess the concept of going to bed on time has never been visited here? Self control practiced?
ReplyDeleteGetting anywhere on time or being early is part of your education.
I guess getting good grades will be your next tower to knock down?
Losers!
Our 1st bell rang at 8:30 am and we had no problem completing required courses throughout the day when classes ended at 3:40 pm. They shouldn't be starting as late as they do now anyway.
ReplyDeleteYes, 9 to 5 days to get them used to working for real.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea in theory but today's kids would just stay up later and be just as exhausted the following morning. Unless of course we removed all the electronics from their rooms. Phones, tablets, computers, laptops, TV's....the Internet.
ReplyDeleteSchool start times revolve around bus schedules, not what's actually beneficial for the students. I don't really see that starting so early builds character. If school started at 8:30 they would still have to be on time.
ReplyDelete