Article by: Dr Zoe Arugay
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Photo: Corbis |
Back then, it was painful getting up early to be on time for my 7am or 8am classes. It was by some miracle our generation survived that, because a new study says that giving teens 30 extra minutes to start their school day leads to more alertness in class, better moods, less tardiness, and even healthier breakfasts.
The results were published in July's Archives of Pediatrics And Adolescent Medicine. These results mirror those at a few schools that have delayed starting times more than half an hour.
Researchers elucidate why 30 minutes make a big difference. Teens find it difficult to sleep before 11pm and they have to wake up around dawn at the time when they are in their deepest sleep. As a result of this interruption, they can be groggy during the day.
An Archives editorial said the study adds to "a growing body of evidence that changing the start time for high schools is good for adolescents."
The study was conducted at a boarding school - St. George's School in Middletown, R.I.. However, the setting doesn't necessarily weaken the results. In fact, some public high schools including those in Minneapolis and West Des Moines have adopted later starting times.
Results at St. George's were so impressive that they made the changes permanent. Of the 201 high school students completed sleep habit surveys before and after the nine-week experiment last year.
The changes? School started at 8:30am, not 8am. All class times were cut 5 to 10 minutes to avoid a longer school day that would interfere with after-school activities. Patricia Moss, academic dean at the Rhode Island boarding school, said improvements in student alertness made up for that lost instruction time.
Other results were as follows:
1. The portion of students reporting at least eight hours of sleep on school nights jumped from about 16 percent to almost 55 percent. Reports of daytime sleepiness dropped substantially, from 49 percent to 20 percent.
2. First-period tardies fell by almost half, students reported feeling less depressed or irritated during the day, health center rest visits dropped substantially; and the number of hot breakfasts served more than doubled. Moss said the healthier breakfast probably aided class time alertness.
If I'm gonna be really honest, my 15-year old self would use the extra time for sleep and maybe sometimes, extra screen time. Afterall, that's what kids need, or at least I did. Anyway, I made up for extra study time on Saturdays after cleaning the house plus a game of table tennis, both done with my brother. That boost of energy adds to alertness and focus on whatever it was we had to study.
