According to a study conducted by a group of pediatricians, middle schools and high schools across the United States should seriously take into consideration starting classes later in the morning to allow children to get more of their much-needed sleep. The researchers, composed mainly of doctors from the American Academy of Pediatrics, advised that classes should not start before 8:00 AM, with the ideal time set for 8:30 AM or later. At the moment, only 15% of Schools across the country are following the guideline.
These recommendations came based on the research entitled "US kids are sleep deprived," which contained details about how sleep deprivation has some notable consequences on overall physical health, school safety, and even academic performance. Dr. Marcel Deray, an independent sleep specialist, said that, "this is an important issue. I see a lot of teenagers who are tired and have problems in school because they have to get up so early. Some kids are getting up at 5:00 AM [or] 6:00 AM."
All parents will think that the lost over a solution for this problem is and early bedtime, the study's lead author, Dr. Judith Owens, says this may not be the case. She explained that when the child reaches puberty, the body's sleep cycle shifts at it is actually harder for adolescents to fall asleep earlier. This is probably due to the fact that their bodies are releasing melatonin, or the hormone that induces drowsiness, later in the evening, which may be why they have a hard time sleeping earlier that 11:00 PM. Another pressing issue is that teenagers need more sleep, at least nine to 9 ½ hours.
According to the United States Department of Education, at the moment, there are about 43% of public high schools across the country start their classes before 8:00 AM. Most middle schools start classes at 8:00 AM, but there is still about 20% of institutions that start earlier than that.