Teenagers need a lot of sleep, but most of them don't get enough. Experts suggest starting school later in the day would cut down on the number of students nodding off during class. They also recommend schools create a sleep-education curriculum to assist students in learning about the consequences of sleep deprivation and the importance of sleep to their overall health.
Some evidence exists that teens who attend schools that open later get more sleep.
Teachers report students are more alert during the first two periods of the school schedule, say the Minneapolis researchers. Dr. Mary Carskadon, director of the Chronobiology and Sleep Research Laboratory at Bradley Hospital in East Providence, R.I., an adolescent sleep expert and co-chair of the foundation's sleep and teens task force, says pubescent changes in body chemistry make it difficult for teenagers to get to bed early. Combined with early school start times, those changes mean many teens go to school sleepy, she says. They are being asked to get up at the wrong time. They are being asked to be in school when their brains are asleep.