Students advised to sleep in
Doctors association says schools should start later
On Monday, the AAP issued a recommendation that middle and high schools delay the start of classes until 8:30 a.m. or later. The reasoning is to align school schedules with the biological sleep rhythms of adolescents.
The natural sleep cycle for a teenager makes it difficult for them to fall asleep before 11 p.m., said authors of the study, which was published in the journal Pediatrics. Therefore, starting school around 7:20 a.m., which is when many high schools and some middle schools begin, does not provide enough time for them to get the recommended 8.5 hours to 9.5 hours of sleep per night, they said.
"Chronic sleep loss in children and in adolescents is one of the most common, and easily fixable, public health issues in the U.S. today," said Dr. Judith Owens, lead author of the policy statement in a news release from the American Academy of Pediatrics.
"The research is clear that adolescents who get enough sleep have a reduced risk of being overweight or suffering depression, are less likely to be involved in automobile accidents, and have better grades, higher standardized test scores and an overall better quality of life."
While few see school systems changing the many moving parts of their districts' schedules anytime soon, many see the merits behind the idea. Dr. Michael Curi, a pediatrician in Torrington, pointed out that the original reasoning behind such an early start for high school students comes from the days when society was more agricultural based.
"The original idea was to get kids home so they could milk the cows. There was an enormous amount of chores to be done around the farm while the sun was still up," Curi said. "It seems prudent to me that we now re-examine this. I routinely hear from kids who are traveling 45 minutes on a bus to get to school for 7:20 a.m. We know that sleep hygiene in teenagers is atrocious, especially with electronics. They are getting texts and tweets all night. Ignoring the biological drive to sleep has significant costs."
Tricia Brown, a math teacher at Nonnewaug High School in Woodbury, said she thinks the system has it backward.
"Little kids get up early. High school kids don't," said Brown, a Waterbury resident whose teaching day starts at 7:25 a.m. "Selfishly, as a teacher, I like that I am in early and out early. But for my students, students in my first period class can be sleepy and sluggish. There is definitely a difference between them and my fourth-period class. I think starting at 8 a.m. would be best."
Brown's daughter, Heather Brown, a 15-year-old sophomore at Sacred Heart High School in Waterbury, agreed.
"I have to get up at 5:45 a.m. to be at school at 7:30. It's really tiring. Especially during swim season, I don't even have time to watch a half-hour of TV. I'm in all honors classes so I do a lot of homework, then eat dinner, then do more homework," Brown said. "I don't even have breakfast in the morning. I get something at school. I do like getting out early, but starting school a half-hour later would make a big difference."
Her younger sister, Katie Brown, however, said she is pleased with her 8:45 a.m. start time at Blessed Sacrament School in Waterbury.
"I wake up at 7 a.m. and for me it's the perfect amount of time to sit down, watch some TV while I have my breakfast. And I get enough sleep if I go to bed by 10:30," said the 12-year-old seventh-grader.
Eric Baim, director of secondary education for Torrington public schools, said the idea of pushing back start times for middle and high school students has not been discussed, but he sees the merits of the idea.
"We have kids in our district who don't have homes, and for them, a later time might be beneficial for them to get the allotted hours of sleep. I definitely hear from our teachers that we have issues with kids who come in tardy to school. We have researched that and they say everything from they were up playing video games to they were sleeping at a friend's to they were working," he said.
In addition to the prospect of jockeying bus schedules, school athletics and extracurricular programs could be affected by a change in start times.
"But that would be OK because a lot of the sports teams don't have their practice right after school because the coaches aren't always at the school and have to get there," Curi said.
And as Baim said, "I'm a former coach, and we always say academics come first."
Contact Carrie MacMillan at email@example.com.
A FEW WORDS ON SLEEP
59 percent of 6th through 8th graders and 87 percent of high school students in the U.S. get less than the recommended 8.5 to 9.5 hours of recommended sleep on school nights
An estimated 40 percent of high schools in the U.S. currently have a start time before 8 a.m.
Only 15 percent start at 8:30 a.m. or later.
More than 20 percent of middle schools start at 7:45 a.m. or earlier
Sources: National Sleep Association, American Academy of Pediatrics
Mikko wrote on Aug 25, 2014 11:14 PM:
Zuke wrote on Aug 26, 2014 6:46 AM:
BTW have you brought it up with your employer? Maybe they'd want someone to be on the job till 6PM unlike the 3PM quit time you undoubtedly enjoy. "
buddy wrote on Aug 26, 2014 7:33 AM:
Zuke.. Common Core is nothing to look to. It is going to hurt these kids "
Below me wrote on Aug 26, 2014 9:03 AM:
Alffie wrote on Aug 26, 2014 5:56 PM:
KITTY wrote on Aug 26, 2014 7:29 PM:
So they would have to go to bed at 8 to get the required amount of sleep....they should switch the start times of the elementary and high school's........the little ones go to bed early and get up early.... "
scatman wrote on Sep 2, 2014 3:24 PM:
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