Editor’s Note: I always love running guest posts, and especially love them when written by my son! Truth be told, this started out as a class assignment, but when he told me he linked to my site from his paper, I had to read it, and I love it. (Proud dad, etc.)
And by the way, this is becoming a key part of the #LockTheClock movement: One of the last arguments made against getting rid of clock changing is that we shouldn’t force students to go to school in the dark. My response has always been the same: They are already mostly going to school in the dark in rural areas and in the northernmost parts of the country, and it’s time to adjust the start times, especially for high schools. That’s why I say we should have a year-long phase-in time for fixing DST so that schools can look at what the clock time will be relative to the sun time for the next school year, and make adjustments that are right for their districts.
In some places, that may mean high school starts at 9:30 or even 10 a.m. Do you know one teenager who would object to that?
Anyway, here’s that post:
Teens Need Sleep!
Unsplash photo by Kinga Cichewicz
Through no fault of their own, teens are sleep deprived.
The current education system in the US is not set up for the success of teens. Despite the plethora of evidence in support of later start time, there has not yet been the shift. While there are obstacles to the move, there is nothing that is big enough to outweigh the clear benefits of a later start. If the US wants to have successful teens, it needs to shift its school start times to later in the day.
Teens need sleep, and lots of it, if they want to function at a normal or excellent level. In order for teens to get this sleep, they need to sleep in until later in the day. Teens don’t start secreting melatonin until, on average, 10:45 p.m. Additionally, teens don’t stop those secretions until eight in the morning. When combined this is a brutal double punch that prevents teens from going to bed early, and makes it difficult to wake up in the morning. The obvious solution here is not to change biology, but instead to accommodate for it by delaying school start times.
The consequences of teens not getting enough sleep are drastic. Teens are more likely to use cigarettes, drugs and alcohol. Teenage depression is shown to be closely tied to the amount of sleep that individuals get. In the age of higher than ever rates of depression, the only logical action seems to be taking steps to reduce this statistic. Additionally, the highest killer of teens, car crashes, is only aided and abetted by sleep deprived drivers; yet another example of avoidable suffering.
To be fair, there are arguments for maintaining the current system. New start times would require a reworking of many transportation patterns. While this may have slight initial challenges, it is nothing that can’t be worked around. Additionally, many teenagers are responsible for getting themselves to school and would appreciate the later start. Despite the argument that teens would simply stay up later, the research finds something different. Some parents and professionals worry that a later ending time would leave students too worn out for their sports, arts, and other activities. In truth, however, the well rested students would train harder, think more creatively, and excel throughout the day. While the points exist against later start times, the reality is, in fact, in support of the pushback.
A later start time would also help solve the problem of Daylight Saving Time. One frequent argument for not moving into year-round daylight time is that it would force students into traveling to school while in the dark. Later start times would fix this, giving not only the benefits from the later start, but the benefits from permanent DST. The shift to later start times could be the event that triggers the move, or vice versa. Either way, everyone comes out on top.
Teens need sleep, it’s about time they were given it. Moving the school day later saves lives, improves performance, and generally improves life for the world’s future leaders.