Change school hours for teens (1 Viewer)

[Zrap]

HIGH SCHOOLS should start at 10am to tackle the chronic sleep deprivation of Australian teenagers, says an expert who has studied adolescent sleep patterns.
Dr Greg Murray, convenor of clinical psychology programs at Swinburne University, said adolescents were getting almost an hour less sleep a night on average than they needed during school term - and modern technology was not to blame.
"It's not just that these young people are choosing to play on the net," he said. "Our findings strongly suggest if you took all that away, they'd be sitting on their beds twiddling their thumbs … in the more extreme cases till 1am."
As children turned into adolescents they naturally became sleepier later. But they still needed as much sleep as primary school students - between 8½ hours and eight hours 45 minutes a night, he said. However, it was only during holidays that students managed to get this amount. The sleep deprivation contributed to the students' irritability, bad mood, inability to concentrate, poor memory, lethargy and possibly to depression, the self-reports from the students indicated.
Dr Murray said. "A forward-thinking school would look seriously at how to modify their schedule to improve the outcomes for adolescents."
Dr Murray and his co-researchers Suzanne Warner and Denny Meyer compared the sleep patterns of 310 year 11 students during school term and holidays.
Unsurprisingly students went to bed later and woke up later in the holidays than during school term, but rather than laziness being the cause, this pattern was likely to reflect the young people's real needs, the research showed. The difference in sleep duration in term and holidays was particularly marked on Sunday to Thursday nights.
"The real concern is we have kids in these classes who are half-awake. Their ability to function, their mood, and their interactions with peers is being incredibly affected by a structure that doesn't suit them," Dr Murray said.
He said most parents would probably feel comfortable about letting boys aged 15 and over get up at 8.30 and get themselves to school by 10.
At Edmund Rice College in Wollongong, the year 11 and 12 students start at 11.45am and finish at 5pm. When the regime began in 1991, adolescent sleep was not the main motivating factor, rather better use of school resources, and providing a different experience for the senior boys, the headmaster, David Lear, said. "But my feeling was the later start suited more of the older boys."

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/change-school-hours-for-teens/2008/04/03/1206851105577.html

Good or Bad idea?

 

[SipSip]

Just sleep earlier...

Plus...no matter how late you make school start...kids are just gonna see it as a reason to sleep later...

 

[orange.chocolat]

This is sort of off the topic but on the topic at the same time but I know some schools in singapore are doing the opposite. Instead, they start at 7:30 and finish and 1:30. Weird, ey?

 

[chicky_pie]

School should start straight after midnight, totally awesome.

 

[Stang]

Bad idea
you will finish school later

 

[Zrap]

School should start about 10:30issssh and finish around 4issssh.
Therefore it would be betterisssh for both sleep and after school shizzissssh

 

[pritnep]

Nice idea, but like most things studies recommend it will probably never happen.

Another positive is it would put pressure off the morning peak hours traffic/transport issues a little.

 

[Stang]

it would be good because you get more sleep

 

[Slidey]

Scientific studies recommend that school start later to account for the different circadian rhythms which teenagers have compared to adults.

I think it makes complete sense. It would certainly have helped me.

 

[Foxodi]

I would simply go to bed later, and I'd imagine 90% of other students would do the same... so I really wouldn't see the point of this (though I must admit, the thought of it sounds very sexy, but overall my sleeping pattern will just get pushed back within a few days, and I won't be experiencing any more benefits.)

 

[dieburndie]

I think it's a good idea. I haven't been able to get to sleep any earlier than about 11.30 on any sort of consistent basis since I was 13 or 14.

Throughout the last few years of high school I was constantly sleep deprived. This wasn't the only factor, but 10-4 certainly would've helped.

 

[Iron]

...What would the parents of working families do?

 

[michael1990]

My school would never do it.

 

[solomarc20]

Believe it or not, this is not a new idea! Every few years some person brings it up, saying it is better, but it gets 4gotten after a while.

I remember it being mentioned in the news back in Y8 or 9

 

[Iron]

I reckon an hour kip at midday would be better. Special dark sleeping rooms, with little pods and the like. Then just keep them back an hour more.
That's better for parents, and probably more effective

 

[^CoSMic DoRiS^^]

...What would the parents of working families do?

Make their kids catch the bus? I would've thought once you hit high school mummy and daddy stop dropping you off and picking you up. Mine stopped bothering in like year 4.

 

[Azamakumar]

Make their kids catch the bus? I would've thought once you hit high school mummy and daddy stop dropping you off and picking you up. Mine stopped bothering in like year 4.

They don't love you.


OT: I think it's stupid, make em suffer. If they want more sleep they can take a nap in the evening/go to fucking sleep earlier like normal people would.

 

[Ms. BRIGHTSIDE]

Bad idea
you will finish school later

it would be good because you get more sleep

Say what ?

 

[Gay Captain]

The whole world stays up later, this isn't the 1950s

why just school?

 

[Zrap]

How about like in kindy when there was nap time.
That was awesome.