School Starts At A Perfect Time

I'm going to ahead and use your own study against you. My whole contention with your argument is this: there are a lot of confounding factors that contribute to students lack of sleep. In the military, for example, the usually wake up time is 0520 for Basic Combat Training. By regulation, soldiers are required to get 7 hours of sleep per duty day. Somehow...they make it work. Do you think you're doing more or less than a soldier in Boot Camp? From your article regarding other factors that can help students get the good amount of sleep they need: "However, a late school start time does not preclude the need for other interventions that have the potential to improve the sleep of adolescents. Health care providers who treat adolescents, both in and outside of school settings, should educate patients and parents about the importance of adequate sleep, as well as factors that contribute to insufficient sleep among adolescents. Parents can help their children practice good sleep hygiene (i.e., habits that help promote good sleep). A regular bedtime and rise time, including on weekends, is recommended for everyone, whether they are children, adolescents, or adults."" In addition, adolescents with parent-set bedtimes usually get more sleep than those whose parents do not set bedtimes (8). Adolescents who are exposed to more light (such as room lighting or from electronics) in the evenings are less likely to get enough sleep (8). Technology use (e.g., computers, video gaming, or mobile phones) might also contribute to late bedtimes (8) and parents might consider implementing a "media curfew" or removing these technologies from the bedroom. Finally, parents might benefit themselves and their children by setting a good example. Adolescent sleep habits tend to reflect their parents' sleep habits (10)" ^ Sources Bartel KA, Gradisar M, Williamson P. Protective and risk factors for adolescent sleep: a meta-analytic review. Sleep Med Rev 2014;21:72"85. Knutson KL, Lauderdale DS. Sociodemographic and behavioral predictors of bed time and wake time among US adolescents aged 15 to 17 years. J Pediatr 2009;154:426"30, 30 e1. Fuligni AJ, Tsai KM, Krull JL, Gonzales NA. Daily concordance between parent and adolescent sleep habits. J Adolesc Health 2015;56:244"50. Also, later start times will affect different school districts differently. Also from your own article: "Citing evidence of the benefits of delayed school start times for adolescents, AAP released a policy statement in 2014 that encouraged middle and high schools to modify start times to enable students to get sufficient sleep and subsequently improve their health, safety, academic performance, and quality of life (5). AAP recommended that schools start at 8:30 a.m. or later (5), but this was the case in only one in six U.S. public middle and high schools, with substantial variation by state. Because school start times are determined at the district or even individual school level, local stakeholders have the most influence on whether start times change in their communities." Wow, so your PERFECT start time, derived from this article, VARIES greatly from state to state...and the 8:30 on only worked in 6 out of 50?!?! How is that "perfect"? Looks like different people of different needs and means are making it work for them....crazy... BUT WAIT...there's more from your article defeating your own argument: "Groups seeking to delay school start times in their district often face resistance. Common barriers to delaying school start times include concerns about increased transportation costs because of changes in bus schedules; potential for traffic congestion for students and faculty; difficulty in scheduling after-school activities, especially athletic programs" No one is disagreeing that not having an adequate amount of sleep is a good thing. We all know there are negative health side effects for that. My point is this, why not just modify your sleep schedule to reflect factors you, as a student, cannot control? By the way, learn how to read an academic article if you are going to cite it. When all of my sources directly refute your main point and come from your own article...you might be doing it wrong.