Are you tired of dragging your teen out of bed in the wee hours of the morning for school? Tired of hearing the alarm go off as they hit snooze multiple times? There may be a solution that doesn't include sending them out the door in their pajamas or throwing a bucket of ice water (sans challenge?). The American Academy of Pediatrics recently published a new policy that noted teens are more likely to do better in school and in life overall if the school didn't start till at least 8:30 a.m. - cue cutting off the snooze.
Pushing back the school time may just sound like fun for your teen, but it's more than for pleasure. The pediatrics group says teens are at risk of a number of incidents as " chronic sleep loss has increasingly become the norm" for their age group. The policy shows giving the kids a few more Zzz's would of course have a positive impact on making sure they get enough rest as lack of sleep in teens is linked to poor grades, bad health, car accidents and more.
High school seniors across the country are averaging less than seven hours a night, while studies show most students in middle and high school do not get the recommended 8 1/2 to 9 1/2 hours of shut eye. Data that supports the results of lack of sleep will surprise you. It's not just the grades these doctors are worried about. Too little sleep can cause serious problems such as depression, suicidal thoughts, obesity and poor school performance said Dr. Judith Owens. Owens took center stage in penning the policy and is the director of sleep medicine at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
So, why haven't schools changed the time? Money.
In order to change times, schools will have to add bus drivers and reroute schedules, bus drivers typically transport both younger and older students and calculating a new system is one of the biggest issues schools face when debating the issue. There have been about 80 school districts that have switched to a later started, but these districts are typically a lot smaller and therefore not as costly.
"After-school sports are another often-cited obstacle because a later dismissal delays practices and games. The shift may also cut into time for homework and after-school jobs," said Kristen Amundson, executive director of the National Association of State Boards of Education.
Amudson is currently working on a proposal with the school board to delay times in the Virginia Fairfax County.
So, what's a parent to do?
Talk with other parents and bring up the study in your next Parent Teachers Association to get the dialogue going. And of course, until we see more schools make this change - Get Those Teens to Bed (without the cellphones and laptops.)
The post Let Them Sleep In! Doctors Urge Later School Time for Teens appeared first on MommyNoire.
