Teen Sleeping Patterns Require Later Start Time To School Day

Staff Editorial
2.5.08

Why is it that breakfast, the supposed most important meal of the day, is often inhaled at best and skipped at worst by high school students? Why do many students suffer from the feeling that they lay their heads down at night only to stand right back up and start the day again? Why are early morning classes such tempting nap times?

The answer may lie in radically different sleeping habits among teenagers. Current sleep research shows that most teenagers have sleeping patterns that run an hour or more later than younger children and adults. Research by nationally recognized sleep researchers William C. Dement, Ph.D., of Stanford University and Mark R. Rosekind, Ph.D., president and chief scientist of Cupertino-based Alertness Solutions shows that the ideal bedtime for teens is midnight to 1a.m., but students are having to wake up at 6:30 in the morning or earlier to make it to school on time.

The solution? Start school later. Many schools around the country are already beginning to implement a later starting school day, which allows teenagers the extra sleep needed for them to perform at their peak. Students would perform better in school and on tests if they were to take exams in the late morning, early afternoon time frame.

In 2002, high schools in Jessamine County in Kentucky pushed back the first bell from 7:30 a.m. to 8:40 a.m. As a result, attendance immediately increased, as did standardized test scores, which continue to rise in that district. Other states that have implemented later start times include Oregon and Colorado.

So, if later start times mean better grades and greater attendance, then why is it not more widely implemented?

It’s mostly due to resistance to change. Parents, teachers and students alike fight against the idea, saying that the lengthened school day would affect the schedules of elementary and middle school students, forcing them into school earlier to accommodate for bus schedules. Another concern is that starting later would affect the bus schedules and after school activities such as sports and jobs.