Study Shows That Early School Start Times Are Bad For Teens
While I personally have repressed most of my memories from high school, there's one thing I do remember with vivid hatred: having to wake up so early to go to class every day. I would snooze my alarm multiple times before dragging myself out of bed, putting on the most convenient outfit I could, and making my way to the bus stop.
While students have been complaining about early start times for years, their comments have been brushed off by most adults.
Most High Schools Have Early Start Times
Most high schools will start classes before 8:30 a.m., causing students to have to get up very early to get ready and account for commute time.
This is exaggerated for students whose extracurricular activities take place before classes start.
Everyone Knows Sleep Is Important
When we're asleep, we give our bodies time to heal, rest, and perform other essential functions.
This is especially true for teenagers who are going through puberty and experiencing intense growth and bodily changes.
One Study Took A Deep Dive
The Sleep Research Society conducted an extensive study into the effect of school start times on the well-being of teenagers.
They were looking to see if moving times back would actually help students be better rested overall.
Later School Start Times Did Pose A Technical Problem
The reason most elementary schools start later than high schools is that there are often not enough busses to handle all the students at once.
Staggered start times allow the same bus drivers to manage a load of elementary and secondary students daily.
The Study Took Two Years
The extensive study tracked the sleeping patterns of over 28,000 students at a diverse Colorado school district.
During the two years, school start times were pushed back two hours for teen students.
The Study Found That The Changed Times Had A Big Impact For Teens
The conclusions pointed out what they initially hypothesized: it really helped with teens' sleeping patterns.
"The percent of [elementary school] students reporting sufficient sleep duration, poor sleep quality, or daytime sleepiness did not change, but the percent of [middle school] and [high school] students reporting sufficient sleep duration significantly increased and clinically significant daytime sleepiness decreased."
The Elementary Students Were Swapped For Time Slots With The Older Students
In order to accommodate the staggered bussing schedule, elementary school students started classes an hour earlier than before.
In exchange, middle and high school students started an hour later than usual.
It Really Only Impacted The Teens
The study results showed that, on average, teenage students gained an average extra 45 minutes of sleep each night.
In contrast, however, the elementary students' sleep time stayed the same.
It's A Simple Fix
It's not that hard to simply change around the school start times to be more accommodating to the needs of high school students.
Sure, it might take some adjustment on the part of parents and the school board, but it seems worth it.
Better Sleep Has Large Benefits
Getting more sleep was linked to the teenage students' having an all-around increased sense of well-being—physically, emotionally, and mentally.
Most importantly, rested students are better learners: they have better memory retention and they're more attentive.
