What are some benefits of having a later start time for high schoolers?

What are the benefits of starting school at a later age?

The healthy, safety, and equity benefits to starting middle and high school at times more in sync with the sleep needs of students are irrefutable. Benefits include: Improved alertness, memory, attention, and cognitive processing skills. Improved academic performance that may be twice as great in disadvantaged students.

Does starting school later help students focus?

For one, students are more likely to be well-rested when they start school later in the day. This leads to improved concentration and focus, which in turn leads to better attendance.

How does later school start times improve attendance?

Students reported significantly more satisfaction with sleep and experienced improved motivation. Daytime sleepiness, fatigue, and depressed mood were all reduced. Most health-related variables, including Health Center visits for fatigue-related complaints, and class attendance also improved.

Why school starting later is good for mental health?

Starting school later can provide teenagers a chance to obtain essential sleep, which can contribute to better physical and mental health as well as improvements in attendance, academic performance and graduation rates.

Sleep expert explains benefits of later school start times for teens

Does school starting later reduce stress?

Studies show that extra sleep for teenagers actually helps shield them against depression and anxiety. It's true! This study from 2017 showed that teenagers with school starting at 8:30am or later had better mental health than their earlier-starting counterparts.

Does starting school later improve grades?

According to many studies, later high school start times could potentially influence more than the sleep quality of students; it may result in higher attendance, better performance, and, in turn, better grades and higher graduation rates.

Do later school start times really help high school students?

"Later secondary school start times is a significant policy shift that not only improves the health and well-being of adolescents, but can also equalize healthy sleep duration for all K-12 teachers," the researchers concluded.

Why later school start times promote academic success?

The empirical estimates indicate that female students who attend schools with later start times get more sleep (36 minutes more per school night for a 1-hour later start time) and score higher on reading tests (0.16 to 0.28 standard deviations higher for a 1-hour later start time), although not on math tests.

How does later school start times affect parents?

"Fewer parents reported feeling tired if you had a student in middle school or high school as they were getting more sleep," Osuna said. The study found that parents didn't go to sleep any later when middle and high school start times were moved back, but that they instead slept later into the morning.

How would later school start time affect sleep?

Most studies reviewed provide evidence that delaying school start time increases weeknight sleep duration among adolescents, primarily by delaying rise times. Most of the studies saw a significant increase in sleep duration even with relatively small delays in start times of half an hour or so.

Why is sleep important for teens?

Sleep is important for teens because it is how our bodies repair themselves! Sleeping can help us prevent infections, rebuild our muscles and can even help our brains work better so that we can focus, prevent mood problems and helps our bodies function better.

How much sleep should teens get?

How much sleep someone needs depends on their age. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has recommended that children aged 6–12 years should regularly sleep 9–12 hours per 24 hours and teenagers aged 13–18 years should sleep 8–10 hours per 24 hours.

Should schools start later in the morning pros and cons?

Later start times enhanced all-day focus, improved mood and boosted sports performance. Getting adequate sleep and adjusting school schedules to coincide with the natural sleep patterns of teens improved mood and attitude. Students were less likely to report depressive conditions.

How do you implement later school start times?

Is it better to start school younger or older?

Studies show that older students often outperform their younger peers in the early years, but the older kids typically lose their advantage in the long run. In fact, some research shows that the younger students who have to strive to keep up with the older kids ultimately become more successful.

How would later school start times affect after school activities?

The new schedule means that sports practices and after-school extracurriculars, including dance rehearsals and marching band practice, now have later start and end times. Some students, like Allison, say the later start time limits the variety of extracurriculars they can pursue.

Should high schoolers have nap time?

In conclusion, bringing naptime forward to high school would be beneficial because it would help improve school performance and help teens get the sleep they need. A simple solution would be to introduce naptime into high school. I suggest having naptime after lunch.

What years do grades matter the most?

Your first year and sophomore year affect your cumulative GPA, which is important to most colleges. However, a solid academic record in your junior year is likely to carry more importance with an admissions committee.

What is the hardest year in grade school?

The seventh grade is a grade level in elementary school that is generally known to be one of the most challenging. It is an important transitional year where students are expected to develop critical thinking skills, advance their academic abilities, and prepare for the transition to middle school.

Is school starting later good or bad?

Later school start times support the biological needs of adolescents; they increase the amount of sleep adolescents get. Other benefits of later start times include: Improved attendance at school. Decreased tardiness.

Why shouldn't school start early?

Disrupting these circadian rhythms with early school start times can cause chronic sleep deprivation, which leads to increased risk for obesity, depression, poor academic performance, substance abuse and driving accidents.

Do longer school hours cause stress?

With such long hours, the students are often left with little to no time to complete their homework and this can lead to a lot of stress and anxiety. Moreover, the long hours can take away from the quality of education that students are getting.

Is 5 hours of sleep OK?

Experts recommend adults get at least 7 hours of sleep per night for better health. Consistently getting less than 5 hours of sleep can have adverse effects on physical and mental health. Inadequate sleep can impact memory, mood, concentration, immunity, and overall quality of life.

Why is my 13 year old staying up all night?

During the teen years, the body's internal sleep clock is reset to fall asleep later at night and wake up later in the morning. This change happens because teen brains make the sleep hormone melatonin later at night than kids' and adults' brains do. So, teens have a harder time falling asleep.