Start School Later

I don't seem to have any posts on the Start School Later movement

The Start School Later movement refers to a series of efforts in the U.S.A. by health care professionals, sleep scientists, educators, economists, legislators, parents, students, and other concerned citizens to restore a later start to the school day, based on a growing body of evidence that starting middle and high schools too early in the morning is unhealthy, counterproductive, and incompatible with adolescent sleep needs and patterns.

Yesterday's Science Daily adds the (possibly) latest: Secret to raising well behaved teens? Maximize their zzzzz's

Recently published in the journal of Learning, Media and Technology, this interesting paper exposes the negative consequences of sleep deprivation caused by early school bells, and shows that altering education times not only perks up teens' mood, but also enhances learning and health.
...in puberty, shifts in our body clocks push optimal sleep later into the evening, making it extremely difficult for most teenagers to fall asleep before 11.00pm. This, coupled with early school starts in the morning, results in chronically sleep-deprived and cranky teens as well as plummeting grades and health problems.
There is a body of evidence showing the benefits of synchronizing education times with teens' body clocks; interestingly, while 'studies of later start times have consistently reported benefits to adolescent sleep health and learning, there [is no evidence] showing early starts have a positive impact on such things', add the researchers...