Sleep experts recommend that teens get 9 to 91/4 hours of sleep each night. An article in this month’s issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine concluded that high school students did better when school started at 8:30 as opposed to 8:00 because those who started at 8:30 had 45 minutes more sleep. They noted that adolescents begin secretion of melatonin about 2 hours later in the evening than do younger children or adults. Melatonin, as you probably know, helps us relax and become sleepy. The authors did not tell us if melatonin secretion was delayed because the kids slept later in the AM, took mini-naps in class, and stayed up later, than younger kids, or if there was some other cause. In other words, they did not prove which was the cause and which was the effect.
I think they have the cart before the horse! I know many high schoolers who get up at five AM or earlier to go to swim practice, lift weights for football or wrestling, or attend religious ed. and do well in school. My experience is that these kids also go to bed much earlier than those who start their day at a more usual time. It would be interesting to test their melatonin levels.
As a rule, I am opposed to having high school start later than elementary school. Teens, especially, need to get in the habit of going to bed early and getting up early. Now I’m not saying they all need to get up at 5 – I hate getting up at 5! But the work world starts at 7 or 8 and part of a teen’s training should be to get up and get started with the rest of the world. College classes often start at these early hours. In college I, like most other students, hated 8 o’clock classes; but when I had an early class I found that I was able to get much more work done during the day. And I was ready for bed before 10:30 giving me ample time for my 9 hours which I didn’t know I needed.
The problem today is we let kids stay up and watch TV, text, phone their pals, and “play” on face book and their computers until late into the evening. Then they have to stay up past midnight to do their home work. A bit of parental direction to help them develop self-discipline may well alleviate this whole problem. My dad would say that by changing the school starting time we are letting the tail wag the dog. What do you think?