Teenagers need later school starts

The average teenager needs between eight and nine hours of sleep a night. However, the distractions of the modern world mean that teens' bedtimes are creeping later and later – not a good remedy for early starts the following morning – to the point where sleep deprivation in young adults is at an all-time high. Many American high schools begin their day at eight in the morning, or sometimes even earlier – but a new study has shown that an early morning start may not be conducive to their all-important learning. As the Huffington Post reports, the new findings were published in the Journal of Developmental & Behavioural Paediatrics, and revealed that by starting teaching just 30 minutes later in the morning can have dramatic effects on the sleep-deprived youth. In the study, a school moved the start time thirty minutes later for around 200 15-year-old students. They found that the number of students getting eight or more hours of a sleep a night rose from 18 per cent to 44 – an incredible jump. "Sleep deprivation is epidemic among adolescents, with potentially serious impacts on mental and physical health, safety and learning. Early hih school start times contribute to this problem," commented Julie Boergers, Ph.D., study researcher and a psychologist and sleep expert at Bradley Hasbro Children's Research Center. "Most teenagers undergo a biological shift to a later sleep-wake cycle, which can make early school start times particularly challenging," adds Boergers. "In this study, we looked at whether a relatively modest, temporary delay in school start time would change students' sleep patterns, sleepiness, mood and caffeine use." When the study reverted the school's start time back to eight in the morning, the amount of students getting eight hours sleep dramatically dropped. It seems those thirty minutes are vital after all. Teenagers need later school starts