Teens Benefit From Later School Day, More Sleep

CHICAGO — Giving teens 30 extra minutes to start their school day leads to more alertness in class, better moods, less tardiness, and even healthier breakfasts, a small study found.

"The results were stunning. There's no other word to use," said Patricia Moss, academic dean at the Rhode Island boarding school where the study was done. "We didn't think we'd get that much bang for the buck."

The results appear in July's Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. The results mirror those at a few schools that have delayed starting times more than half an hour.

Researchers say there's a reason why even 30 minutes can make a big difference. Teens tend to be in their deepest sleep around dawn – when they typically need to arise for school. Interrupting that sleep can leave them groggy, especially since they also tend to have trouble falling asleep before 11 p.m.

"There's biological science to this that I think provides compelling evidence as to why this makes sense," said Brown University sleep researcher Dr. Judith Owens, the study's lead author and a pediatrician at Hasbro Children's Hospital in Providence, R.I.

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 fact that the study was in the exclusive setting of St. George's School in Middletown, R.I., doesn't necessarily weaken the results. Owens acknowledged that there might be more hurdles to overcome at poorer, public schools, including busing schedules, parents' work hours and daycare for younger siblings. While these issues have killed many proposals elsewhere, some public high schools including those in Minneapolis and West Des Moines have adopted later starting times.

Mel Riddile, an associate director at the National Association of Secondary School Principals, favors later class times for teens but said most districts oppose it.

"It's about adult convenience, it's not about learning," he said. "With budget cuts, it's going to make it more difficult to get this done."

Many parents and teachers at St. George's were opposed but reluctantly agreed to the study after a presentation by Owens, whose daughter was a junior there.

Overall, 201 high school students completed sleep habit surveys before and after the nine-week experiment last year. The results were so impressive that the school made the change permanent, Moss said.

Starting times were shifted from 8 to 8:30. All class times were cut 5 to 10 minutes to avoid a longer school day that would interfere with after-school activities. Moss said improvements in student alertness made up for that lost instruction time.

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.

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 classtime alertness.

Recent graduate Garrett Sider, 18, used the extra time for sleep. He noticed kids took part more often in morning classes with the later start time.

"It was a positive thing for the entire school," he said.

The study was designed to look at changes in sleep habits and behavior and didn't examine academic performance. It also lacked a control group of students who didn't experience a change in school start times – another limitation. Still, the researchers said the results show delaying school starting times is worthwhile.

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Online:

Archives: http://www.archpediatrics.com

Comments

[Mister Biggles]

09:43 AM on 07/08/2010

I never understood why it wasn't backwards.

Elementary school should start first, then middle, then high school.

[hemiram]

02:30 AM on 07/08/2010

As a person whose internal clock is permanently 12 hours off from most people's, I was kind of happy to read this, it was kind of the story of my life, just less extreme. My school years were a nightmare. I had to get up when I wanted to go to bed, and if I got more then 3 hours total sleep a day during the school week (without sleeping in class) I felt lucky. I had a very difficult time falling asleep before 4AM, and still do. So I would lay in bed, from 1AM on, hoping I would go to sleep. Somewhere between 4 and 5, I would nod off, and then at 7:30, the time I had to get up from K to 12, I would feel terrible. I was sick all the time. I missed about HALF the first grade days due to being sick. My mother says when I was about 2, I asked, "Why do people sleep at night?". From birth, I was "alive" at night. My mom almost committed suicide due to being up all night taking care of me right after I was born. When she got up to fix breakfast and get my older sister ready, I was asleep, and was almost impossible to keep awake until 11Am, when I finally would wake up on my own. Trying to alter my internal clock has been a total failure over the years, and I have long given up trying..

[HerrMonk]

01:46 PM on 07/07/2010

So they just figured this out, huh?

[thinkingwomanmillstone]

09:50 PM on 07/06/2010

yes but teachers and administrators like early starts..guess who wins this battle. Last time this study was done, our high school moved it's start time to 7:00 am. My were not the first stop on the bus but my kids were still picked up just after 6:00. It was ridiculous and still stands. It's not just the amount of sleep. It's the time of day...their interior clock just works better later and they learn better....not that schools are really interested in optimal learning these days.

[olddognewtrick]

08:06 PM on 07/06/2010

Finally! I kept telling my mother this...all through high school.

[sadaosoi1]

11:27 AM on 07/06/2010

If it's 30 minutes more sleep they need, how about just going to bed 30 minutes earlier at night?

[Jason Lesiewicz]

10:00 AM on 07/07/2010

It's all about the internal clocks that are hardwired into teenagers. The article suggested that teenagers have trouble falling asleep before 11pm, and that their deepest sleep comes at dawn. Think back to your experience as a teenager; for me, this report rings true.

[tricwebs]

04:28 PM on 07/07/2010

Those internal clocks can be adjusted. The problem with this study is that it demonstrates more that a shorter school day works than just waking up later.