SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
from the and-teachers-can-work-later... dept.
American teenagers, rejoice ! The American Academy of Pediatrics wants all US schools attended by children aged 10 to 18 to delay their opening times to 8.30 am or later. Currently, only 15 per cent start after this time.
The aim is to tackle widespread sleep deprivation by helping teenagers manage the shift in their body clocks that coincides with puberty. This turns them into "night owls" who favour going to bed and rising 2 hours later than when they were younger. Research has shown that this results in more car accidents, increased late arrivals at school as well as lower grades, and higher risks of depression, moodiness and obesity.
A poll published in 2006 ( http://sleepfoundation.org/sites/default/files/2006_summary_of_findings.pdf [PDF] ) by the US National Sleep Foundation found that 59 per cent of middle school students and 87 per cent of high school students were failing to get the recommended 8.5 to 9.5 hours sleep on school nights.
[Additional Research] http://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstream/11299/162769/1/Impact%20of%20Later%20Start%20Time%20Final%20Report.pdf [PDF]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 27 2014, @11:39AM
The whole reason for school starting at 7:30 is to give parents time to get the kids off to school before they have to get themselves off to work. This gets school buses off the streets before the worst of rush hour, and it provides parental supervision for actually showing up for class. After-school programs keep the kids occupied and supervised until the parents return from work. The world does not now, and never will, revolve around your circadian rhythm. If it did, there would be no such thing as 3rd shift.
Can you even imagine how disruptive it would be to have the whole crowd of 9-to-5ers stuck at home until 8:30 to see Johnny and Jane off to class? Buses stopping traffic on major roads while the little tykes cross the street?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 27 2014, @05:30PM
Definitely less disruptive than the hundreds of extra vehicle-hours on the road per day from everyone driving to school, then away from school, then to work.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 28 2014, @04:06PM
1. Teens are old enough to be trusted with the keys to the house. So there is no reason for parents stay until they leave.
2. They are also old enough to ride a bike to school or walk to the bus stop. So there is little reason to drive them to school in normal situations.
3. Teens go to school for learning, which is very different from most night shift jobs. Mindlessly stocking store aisles is easy when you are half asleep, unlike learning maths for which you need clarity of thought.
If you think 7:30 is such a great time to start school, then surely going to work at 7:30 should feel no different, right? Why not do a thought experiment, test it out and switch things around, ignoring logistics. All offices will start at 7:30 and all schools at 9:00. How would it effect the grades of students? How would it affect office productivity? How long do you think it will take for every adult to screem bloody murder?