Opinion | Let Teenagers Sleep In
Three out of every four students in grades 9 to 12 fail to sleep the minimum of eight hours that the American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends for their age group. And sleep deprivation is unremittingly bad news. Anyone who talks about sleep as if it's some kind of inconvenience and getting less of it is a virtue should be challenged. These people are dangerous.
At its most basic, insufficient sleep results in reduced attention and impaired memory, hindering student progress and lowering grades. More alarmingly, sleep deprivation is likely to lead to mood and emotional problems, increasing the risk of mental illness. Chronic sleep deprivation is also a major risk factor for obesity, Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and cancer. As if this weren't enough, it also makes falling asleep at the wheel much more likely.
In 2014, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that middle and high schools start no earlier than 8:30 a.m., a policy now backed by the American Medical Association, the C.D.C. and many other health organizations.
[...] Whenever schools have managed the transition to a later start time, students get more sleep, attendance goes up, grades improve and there is a significant reduction in car accidents. The RAND Corporation estimated that opening school doors after 8:30 a.m. would contribute at least $83 billion to the national economy within a decade through improved educational outcomes and reduced car crash rates. The Brookings Institution calculates that later school start times would lead to an average increase in lifetime earnings of $17,500.
(Score: 2) by theluggage on Tuesday September 25 2018, @11:34AM
...apart from the complete collapse of industry caused by the sudden withdrawal of free childcare.
What, you think the financial argument that keeps the public school system going is the intangible value of an educated workforce 15 years down the line? Maybe once, but since the financial world realised that if both parents could go to work they could afford higher rents and mortgage repayments...
That's one reason why schools are under pressure to start classes at ugh-o'clock - gotta get the progeny packed off to school before Mom and Dad leave for work.
Of course, come the glorious AI revolution when nobody has a job anyway, your plan might just work, and the teenagers can learn everything they need by browsing
pornKahn academy...