Michigan University. US: Should teenagers be able to hit the snooze button one more time
before school? Ask their parents and half say they would support later
school start times, according to today’s University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health. More schools across the country are exploring delayed school start
times as research shows benefits for adolescents’ physical and mental
health, including reduced risks of obesity and depression. The poll was
conducted in November/December 2014, following last year’s recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) that middle and high schools start at 8:30 a.m. or later.
Among the national sample of parents
with teens aged 13-17 whose middle or high schools started before 8:30
a.m., about 2 in 5 believed later start times would allow their teens
more sleep and 1 in 5 said it would improve school performance.
Meanwhile, others worried about how later start times would affect
schedules and logistics, with 1 in 5 parents saying a delayed start
would not allow enough time for after-school activities and 1 in 7
expecting the change to negatively affect transportation issues.
Twenty-seven percent of parents said they would only support the
later time if it didn’t impact school budgets while 24 percent would
support the change regardless.
“Teenagers are chronically sleep-deprived and that can negatively
impact their health and well-being. We know teens are biologically wired
to have later sleep cycles, which has raised the question of whether
school start times that align to adolescents’ natural sleep rhythms
could help improve health outcomes,” says Matthew M. Davis, M.D.,
M.A.P.P., director of the National Poll on Children’s Health and
professor of pediatrics and internal medicine in the Child Health
Evaluation and Research Unit at the U-M Medical School.
“The idea to delay school start times is still fairly new, and our
poll shows that parents seem conflicted about whether or not it’s the
right move, “adds Davis, who is also professor of public policy and
public health at the University of Michigan.
“While many recognize the benefits of more sleep for their kids,
there are real life concerns about how the change may interfere with
after-school activities, logistics and school budgets. As more schools
in the country consider this change, we recommend parents get involved
with these discussions.”
The AAP recommends that adolescents receive 8.5-9.5 hours of sleep
each night. Research shows that the natural sleep rhythms for teens
shift up to two hours later after the start of puberty, meaning they
sleep later and wake up later than younger children. Lack of sleep has
been linked to mental health problems, increased risk of motor vehicle
accidents and a decline in school performance.
The report found that only 20 percent of parents had heard about the
new AAP guidelines recommending later start times for school but 71
percent of parents agreed with the guidelines once they were aware of
them.
The debate over school times has been seen in communities across the
country, most recently in the news in Rockville, Maryland where parents
and students staged a “sleep-in” protest
with sleeping bags and pajamas to help persuade the Montgomery County
Board of Education to delay start times. A handful of other communities–
including Ann Arbor, Mich. where the poll is conducted – are also
exploring the option.
