Later?
BY BETH ROESSNER
Ask a teenager whether or not they want to sleep a little bit longer,
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Should Schools Start
and they’ll happily turn around without a sound and crawl back into
their cave of 500-threadcount sheets.

When children reach puberty, there is a shift in their circadian
rhythm, the so-called biological clock. Their bodies naturally
want to go to bed later and sleep later. Because many schools
start before 8 a.m., students often go to class sleep-deprived,
not fully awake and not ready to learn.

Because many students are not gett ing enough sleep, they’re in
a state of “social jet lag,” said Maribel Ibrahim, co-founder and
operations director for Start School Later, based in Annapolis,
MD. The organization advocates for an 8 a.m. or later start
time for schools.

The American Academy of Pediatrics and America Academy
of Sleep Medicine both recommend that high school and
middle school should not start before 8:30 a.m.

“International research suggests that as puberty progresses,
there develops a greater delay in the spike of the ‘sleep
hormone’ melatonin and the onset of sleep,” explained
Dr. Laura Finkelstein, assistant professor of pediatrics at the
University of Maryland School of Medicine. “Adolescents
in early stages of puberty have a shorter lag, and older
adolescents have an increasingly longer lag.”
“A student is in a chronically sleep-deprived state and
because they’re fi ghting against their biology, they’re going to
school at a time where their brains are not prepared to learn,”
said Ibrahim.

Meaning, it takes longer for the release of melatonin to
happen in teens.

But the issue of later start times goes beyond simply a few
more hours of sleep. It’s also a socioeconomic issue, too.

In addition to early-morning alarms and biological factors,
other reasons why many teenagers aren’t gett ing enough sleep
include lack of structured bedtime, electronic use and social
factors like after-school activities or jobs, said Finkelstein.

Research suggests that a change to a later start time benefi ts
low-income and disadvantaged students the most.

14 August 2018
washingtonFAMILY.com Their brains are still in a mode of deep sleep, so memory
retention, judgment and cognitive abilities have all been
impaired, Ibrahim explained.

Students who may have access to a car, or have parents who
are able to drive them to school are able to grab a few more
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A s emerging research suggests that today’s teenagers need
more sleep, advocacy groups and local school districts
are leading the charge to give teens a bit more shut eye.