Let Teenagers Sleep: Despite years of

evidence that starting school later

promotes better health and improved
grades, too few schools have adopted
this measure.
Published in:Scientific American, Feb2023,Academic Search Elite

SCIENCE AGENDA

OPINION AND ANALYSIS FROM SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN'S BOARD OF EDITORS

Teenagers are some of the most sleep-deprived people in the U.S. On average, teens
do not get enough sleep, and more important, they do not get enough quality sleep,
researchers say. We could blame cell phones and other light-emitting technologies for
keeping kids up at night, but late nights are just part of the equation. In addition to
technology, one fairly indisputable factor contributes to this collective sleepiness: school
start times.

Over decades researchers have amassed evidence showing that pushing back the first
bell of middle and high school would benefit the physical, mental and emotional health
of older children, not to mention their academic performance. The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, along with several medical societies, has endorsed later start
times. Some school districts, as well as the state of California, have already shown
respect for that evidence with new start times. I dont understand how so...
Yet far too many school districts are reluctant to make the change, whether for logistical,
financial or cultural reasons. This is unfair to teens. A generation of students is playing
catchup from COVID, and we need to prioritize their health and wellness by pushing
back the start of the school day. Honoring their biological and social needs will create
more resilient adults who can thrive in a world filled with current complexities and future
ones we can't begin to predict.

Teenagers need about nine hours of sleep a night--but they get closer to seven. And
around puberty, their circadian clocks shift by a couple of hours, meaning they get tired
later at night than before and wake up later in the morning than they used to. This shift

Teens don’t get enough sleep, partly because of early school start
times. Their bodies naturally shift to needing sleep later at night,
making early starts harder.
 Rem sleep- a phase of sleep when the eyes move rapidly while closed and
when most dreams happen
reverses at adulthood. The biological nature of this daily rhythm means that sending a
teenager to bed earlier won't necessarily mean they fall asleep earlier.

Experts tell us that teens are missing out on both restorative sleep and REM sleep,
especially the cycles that normally happen just before a person wakes up. Restorative
sleep helps to repair the body after a hard day, and it may improve immune function and
other biological processes. REM sleep solidifies events and learning into memories [
see more about sleep cycles in "When Dreams Foreshadow Brain Disease," on page 56
]. So when a 10th grader who naturally goes to bed around 11 p.m. has to wake up at 6
a.m. for school, that teen is losing not only hours of sleep but hours of quality sleep. And
even if they sleep in on the weekends, they won't fully catch up.

These kids are telling us they need more sleep. In survey after survey, they say when
school starts later, they are not as tired all day, they tend to get to school on time, and
Can influence
they are less likely to have to be nagged to get out of bed. They tell us that as their
bad
sleep time decreases, their use of tobacco and drugs increases, including drugs that
could help them stay awake. They tell us that getting one less hour of sleep a day decisions
leaves them feeling hopeless and, sometimes, suicidal. Research has shown that
suicide risk in children increases during the school year, and sleep deprivation could be
a contributing factor. Other studies show that getting one less hour of sleep a day is
associated with weight gain. Researchers have told us that sleepy teens are more
prone to car crashes and that even 30 minutes of extra sleep would help alleviate some
mental health concerns. Even teachers have reported that with later start times, their
students are more engaged in the morning, and teachers themselves are more rested.

Despite decades of research, thousands of publications and clear science, schools in

only a few states and the District of Columbia have pushed their start times to 8:30 a.m.
on average, which researchers say is a compromise--a better time would be closer to 9
a.m. lack of sleep can contribute to negative mental health
The path to delayed school start times is riddled with potholes. Bus schedules have to
change. Teacher and administrator schedules have to be altered. Afterschool sports and
enrichment programs might have to begin later. Parents and caretakers with more than
one child may have to juggle child care for older children to get the younger ones to
their earlier start times. A delayed school start could also mean adults with inflexible
work schedules are late for work.
Good counter argument
Experts say our agrarian model of education was designed to get teens up early and
home before dark to tend to the farm, but it is no longer relevant for most modern
students. Our cultural views of teens as lazy and of needing sleep as a weakness are
harmful and inaccurate. And our grumbling that if we survived early start times, today's
teens can, too, is callous and dismissive of science.
Access to education is a basic right in the U.S. But it's time to stop thinking of school
start times as immovable mountains. While more states ponder start time legislation,
school district administrators should prioritize it, and people running for school boards
need to add start times to their platforms. State-level funding agencies have to clear
hurdles for districts wanting to try this. Employers need to be more flexible to help
parents adjust to school schedules, especially with hourly employees. And the unions
that represent teachers and other education professionals need

to negotiate with teens also in mind. For decades we've ignored the overwhelming
evidence that delayed start times help teens succeed. Let teenagers sleep. There is
nothing "woke" about that.
This topic should already be known and shouldnt be new
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Suicide Rates Increase during the School Year

~~~~~~~~

By the Editors

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