Teen Sleep: Why does school start so early?

Photo Credit: Courtesy of www.eduinreview.com

Studies show that teens need to sleep later in the morning or this may happen.

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John Reifenberg
March 25, 2010
Filed under Opinion & Editorial

“Beep, beep, beep.” It’s five in the morning on a Monday and your alarm just went off. You hit the snooze a few times and then come to the sudden realization that you need to get up and go to school.

According to Mayoclinic.com, most teens need about nine hours of sleep a night. But in a recent study, 90% of teens reported sleeping less than the recommended time. On that same note, 10% reported getting less than six hours of sleep a night. This sleep deprivation can all be attributed to extensive homework, part- time jobs, sports, and early school hours. These reasons bring up the important question: Why does high school start so early?

In schools all over the country, high schools begin first, followed by middle schools and then elementary schools. In most people’s minds, this is reversed from what the order should be. Elementary school children have much less responsibility than high school students when it comes to work load, sports and jobs. I believe that if elementary students started earlier than the others, then it would prepare the kids for the daily grind in the real world, and by the time they get to the work force they will have been used to getting up so early.

In an article by the Washington Post, it was reported that Brown University Professor Mary Carskadon led a team of researchers to help prove that (biologically speaking), “teenagers really are out of it in the morning.” Carskadon and her team measured the presence of the sleep inducing hormone melatonin in various teen’s saliva at different times of the day. As it turned out, they learned that the melatonin levels rise later at night than they do in children and adults — and remain at a higher level later in the morning. To put this in simpler terms, teens need to sleep later into the morning than do younger children and adults. I say, if science backs us up, then let us sleep and I’m sure millions of other teens agree with me.