There is an effort in many school districts to start high school later in the morning allowing teenagers to get the nine or more hours of sleep each night that sleep experts recommend.
An article in the July, 2010 issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine stated that high school students did better when school started at 8:30 as opposed to 8:00. They concluded that “A modest delay in school start time was associated with significant improvements in measures of adolescent alertness, mood, and health.”
They also explained that while most adults have an inner clock adapted to the 24 hour day, teens’ clocks are set to a 25 or 26 hour day. Teens secrete the sleep hormone, melatonin, about two hours later in the evening than do younger children and adults. The authors did not tell us if melatonin secretion was delayed because the kids slept later in the AM, took mini-naps in class, stayed up later, than younger kids, or if there were other causes. In other words, they did not prove which was the cause and which was the effect.
I discussed this with one of my middle aged sons who has a PhD in bio-statistics. He suggested that to be consistent with teens 25 to 26 hour day, high schools should start an hour or two later each day, or if it can be shown that it takes some time to re-adjust their clocks, every month. By the end of the school year, he explained, high schools would start as late, or is it as early, as four A.M. The experts didn’t address that problem either.
An article in the journal Chronobiology International in April 2012 had a different conclusion regarding college students. “… (G)rades were somewhat lower in students with predominantly late class schedules. Furthermore, students taking later classes were at greater risk for increased alcohol consumption. Thus, these results indicate that later class start times in college … also increase the likelihood of alcohol misuse, ultimately impeding academic success.”
Experience shows us that many high schoolers get up at five AM or earlier to attend sports or music practice, or other activities. Almost all Mormon high schoolers have daily religion class every morning before school. These kids go to bed much earlier than those who start their day at a more usual time.
Since the adult work-world starts at seven or eight AM part of a teen’s training should be to get up and get started with the rest of the world. High school is the best time to make good habits. Starting later also puts a burden on families of kids who attend after school activities. Family dinner is so important, and keeping kids in school later would make it difficult for them to eat with the rest of the family. It would also interfere with teens’ ability to find an after school job; many teens need to work.
The problem as I see it is kids stay up and watch TV, text, phone their pals, and “play” on face book, x-boxes, and their computers until late at night. A bit of parental guidance would have these devices off limits during study time and help teens develop the habits they need to succeed in life.
Make sure your kids, of every age, get to bed early enough to get 8-10 hours of sleep before wake-up time. Give them an alarm clock when in kindergarten or first grade, teach them how to use it, let them get themselves up without your help those early years, and they will continue to rise without being nagged.
When kids learn to take care of themselves they will developing the self-discipline they do well in life.
My dad would say those who want to start high school later are letting the tail wag the dog.