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Health Professionals Recommend Later School Starting Times to Help Students Thrive

By Admin      

In the last two decades, an increasing amount of research has been focused on the potential impact of later school starting times for adolescent students, particularly at the intermediate and secondary level (middle school and high school). At the same time, sleep health professionals have continued to stress the importance of proper sleep for young people. Both the National Sleep Foundation and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) agree that teenagers need between 8 and 10 hours of sleep per night, and according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least six out of ten adolescent-age students fall short of that goal regularly on school nights. While the movement to delay school starting times is catching on, a majority of American middle and high schools still start early, and often before 8:30. This means that adolescents, who are often tired in the morning due to the physical changes of puberty, may be performing at lower levels than they otherwise would after a full night of sleep. By pushing the first class to a later time, the system gives teens the extra time they need to arrive at school rested and alert, potentially making them safer, healthier, and more likely to perform well in the classroom setting.

Adolescents and Sleep

Scientists have known for some time that chronobiological changes during puberty make it harder for teens to fall asleep at night and wake in the early morning. With early school start times, many young people at the age of puberty begin to feel a need for more sleep while their social environment still demands that they wake early. This can create an imbalance that upsets the sleep-wake cycle they are biologically geared toward. It is also an explanation for the statistically high numbers of sleep problems during adolescence. When these problems are persistent over time, they can disrupt important developmental periods and have lasting effects. 

In addition to problems specific to teenagers, lack of sleep can generally lead to a variety of other health problems throughout the lifespan, including hypertension, weight issues and diabetes, heart and cardiovascular conditions, sleep disorders, and a number of mental and emotional problems that can exacerbate existing conditions. Sleep helps the body deal with stress, consolidates memories, and refreshes the mind and body for each new day of activity. When you get used to living on less sleep, you are risking much more than a few tired hours in the morning. And for adolescents, who are at the peak of their developmental growth, the consequences can be much more serious than many realize. 

Studies have shown that students do attempt to make up for lost sleep on weekends and during vacations, but this pattern of binging on sleep is not ideal. Others will take naps after school (or during school, if necessary), and while this may be healthier than binging on one or two days, it can be disruptive to studies and other activities that often take place after school. In addition, adults sometimes view this behavior as laziness, rather than recognizing the biological changes that may be driving it. According to the National Sleep Foundation, recent estimates place the rate of insomnia in adolescents as high as 23.8 percent, and over half of students questioned in polls between 2007 and 2013 reported getting less than seven hours of sleep per night on average. While research on sleep changes during adolescence has been underway for over two decades, in many ways we have only just begun to recognize how important the issue is for public health and safety as well as education. 

Problems With the Status Quo: Early School and Late Nights

Sleep health professionals consider sleep to be a major factor in the overall health, social development, and school performance of adolescent students, but lack of sleep is very common at that age. Therefore, a later school starting time is meant as an inclusive way to address the problem for all those in attendance, and with minimal difficulty. By most assessments, a later school starting time is cost effective, and addresses the problem in a simple way with a significant impact on the health and wellbeing of the student population. For this age group it is also extremely important to consider the dangers of daytime sleepiness, particularly for those who are driving for the first time, or may be getting into cars with other young drivers. All of these considerations are important for young people, and both the short-term and long-term consequences of being tired should not be overlooked.

It should also be emphasized that these recommendations are for middle school and high school only. Research does not indicate a need for younger students in primary school (grade school) to start earlier than 8:30 or 9:00 a.m., and starting times for this age group are much less associated with health- or performance-related outcomes. The changes noted above take place in the teen years and vary between individual students, but most sleep health professionals recommend later start times for both middle school and high school.

Back to School After Covid

As students return to in-person learning, it is important for school officials to consider healthy start times as a possible policy change. Not only have these students dealt with the stress and isolation of the pandemic, but sleep disorders have been on the rise as well. Even with a reduction of travel needs in the morning hours, the new routines of life during the pandemic often have a negative impact on sleep and sleep health. And for students of adolescent age, that impact can be further compounded by changes in biology, social development, and academic stress. 

In part due to changes brought about by the pandemic, the number of schools adopting later starting times has increased in recent years, but according to the National Center for Education Statistics, over two thirds of American high schools still start before 8:30 a.m., making a new standard very difficult without significant changes to the culture of education. As a result, some groups have initiated a petition to put later school start times into law. Others have suggested more gradual policy changes such as an optional study hall before the first period, or holding extra-curricular activities in the morning as well as the afternoon or evening. The idea, according to sleep scientists, is to implement the change in such a way that is non-disruptive and blends well with the other developments currently taking place. At a time when the entire educational system is reinventing itself, a slight but highly beneficial delay in starting times could have far-reaching implications for the future of the country.

Sources

American Academy of Sleep Medicine - Recommended Amounts of Sleep for Pediatric Populations - https://aasm.org/resources/pdf/pediatricsleepdurationconsensus.pdf

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/features/students-sleep.htm

Chest - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2913764/

Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6483483/

Developmental Neuroscience - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2820578/

National Academies Press - Sleep Needs, Patterns, and Difficulties of Adolescents - https://www.nap.edu/read/9941/chapter/2

PLoS One - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3474762/

Psychological Research - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3278619/

Medical Sciences (Basel) - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30200388/

National Center for Education Statistics - https://nces.ed.gov/

National Sleep Foundation - Teens and Sleep - https://www.sleepfoundation.org/teens-and-sleep

National Sleep Foundation - Sleep Recommendations - https://www.sleepfoundation.org/how-sleep-works/how-much-sleep-do-we-really-need

Pediatric Clinics of North America - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3130594/

Rand Corporation - Later School Start Times in the U.S.: An Economic Analysis - https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR2109.html

Sleep - Changing School Start Times: Impact on Sleep in Primary and Secondary School Students - https://academic.oup.com/sleep/article/44/7/zsab048/6218366

Sleep - Perceived Daily Sleep Need and Sleep Debt in Adolescents - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34323993/

Sleep - Sleep Duration as a Risk Factor for Diabetes - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2276127/

Sleep Medicine Clinics - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4791534/

StartSchoolLater.net - List of Position Statements - https://www.startschoollater.net/position-statements.html

Washington Post - https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/teenage-sleep-remote-learning-school-time/2021/03/26/29d3c004-898b-11eb-8a8b-5cf82c3dffe4_story.html