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.




minutes of sleep: They do not need to wake up early to wait
for a bus.

“Kids who live in underprivileged areas that don’t have access
to a parent or extra vehicles don’t have that choice. They have
to take the buses,” said Ibrahim.

If a disadvantaged student misses the bus, they often have no
other way of getting to school, which can lead to truancy.

These same students often work and work late into the night
to help support their families, said Ibrahim. With a later start
time, they’ll be able to catch up both in sleep and academics,
“putting them on equal footing.”
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There is also a community benefit. As start times get pushed
later, so do school end times. Many students end their school
day before 3 p.m., well before parents are home. This creates
a few-hours gap in which many students do not have access to
quality after-school programming and care.

While some students may be working, participating in after-
school activities and sports, or going to a local teen center or
club, many students are unsupervised. This could lead to an
increase in risky behaviors.

By shortening the gap in which school is released and parents
get home, the community sees a benefit in fewer teens
partaking in these behaviors.

“Here’s where the equity issue plays into it again,” said
Ibrahim. “For the privileged students who have access to
sports, after school activities or a ride home, there is not as
much of an impact for them. Underprivileged students may
not have access to those activities.”
This is seen especially during the summer months, and is
reflected by the summer achievement gap.

As school shifts to a later start time, the end time gets pushed
back as well. This creates a shorter gap from when students
leave school and when parents arrive home. There is also
community benefit, said Ibrahim, because students will be less
likely to be unsupervised or take part in risky behaviors.

But with later start times, comes the feasibility: How possible
is it? Logistics and cost becomes a growing concern for parents
and taxpayers.

Parents worry over how to get their children, who may be
in different school buildings, to and from school. Taxpayers
worry how this will affect transportation costs.

Look to our very own Montgomery County. After years
of debate, the Montgomery County Public School system
instituted delayed start times in the 2015-2016 school year,
continuing it into the 2017-2018 school year. Through
planning, they were able to stay budget neutral with the shift.

Both the middle and high schools shifted their start and end
times by 20 minutes.

Right now, explained MCPS public information and
web services director, Derek Turner, the results are
merely anecdotal.

“We’ve had lots of feedback from high school students and
their families that this has been a huge benefit for them, but
I don’t know we’ve matched that up to performance data.

We’re not at that point yet,” said Turner, who is the director of
public information for MCPS.

An unintended consequence was a longer school day for
elementary school students. Their start and end times were
“Because many schools start
before 8 a.m., students often
go to class sleep-deprived,
not fully awake and not
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ready to learn.”
washingtonFAMILY.com August 2018 15