Healthy Habits: Sleep and School Start Times

 

California became the first state to mandate a school start time of 8:30 AM. Sleep Foundation recently conducted a survey that found 38.2% of surveyed adults believed, and agreed, school start times in their area should be later.

View the full survey HERE. 

KEY FINDINGS: 

• 35% of surveyed full-time teachers said school times should start later 
• 83% of U.S. high schools started before 8:30 AM
• 21% of parents surveyed wanted school times to start earlier 

Sleep Expert, Wendy Troxel (PhD), shares her take on later start times for students: 

“Teenagers who aren’t getting the sleep they need cannot learn how they are supposed to in school.” 

-Wendy M. Troxel, Ph.D., Senior Behavioral Scientist at RAND Corp. and a SleepFoundation.org medical advisory board member

You can learnmore in this interview with Dr. Wendy Troxel (PhD), Senior Behavioral Scientist, RAND Corporation and Author of “Sharing the Covers: Every Couple’s Guide to Better Sleep,” Scientific Advisor for SleepFoundation.org.

Why are school start times an important issue? 

Adolescents are among the most chronically sleep-deprived populations, with estimates suggesting that 7 out of 10 regularly fail to get the recommended 8-10 hours of sleep that their bodies and brains need to function optimally.

Why do so many schools start so early? 

The school day schedule is really a relic of the past, when the US first required bussing for public schools. To accommodate multiple levels of schools (elementary, middle, and high schools), school districts had to choose one level to go first. At the time, we didn’t have the robust sleep science we have today which clearly demonstrates that adolescents, specifically, show a delay in their biological clocks, meaning that naturally they stay up later and sleep in later. Without that science, school districts just decided, if someone has to go first, let it be the oldest kids. But now we know, scientifically, that is absolutely the wrong decision. Now that we have the science, the challenge is changing the status quo---which is difficult, but certainly worthwhile when you consider that adolescents’ mental and physical health, and academic functioning are all at stake.

How can parents work with school leaders to find healthy start times? 

Parents should advocate for healthy school start times within their district by presenting the robust scientific evidence demonstrating the benefits of later school start times for adolescents, and working collaboratively with school administrators and the community to overcome perceived challenges associated with changing school schedules. 

If families have an early start to school, how can they still help make sure kids are getting enough sleep? 

Early school start times are the single biggest factor constraining adolescents’ opportunity for adequate sleep, so advocating for healthy school start times is critical. Parents can also support healthy sleep by removing technology from their children’s bedrooms and encouraging a consistent sleep-wake routine throughout the week.