Moreover, adolescents' natural sleep cycle compels them to go to bed late and get up late. In a study she conducted with Holy Cross researcher Amy Wolfson, Carskadon discovered that the typical high school student's natural time to fall asleep was around 11 p.m., and the secretion of the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin persisted until around 8 in the morning. Armed with research and other studies that link sleep deprivation to difficulties concentrating, memory lapses, depressed mood, and auto accidents, a growing community of researchers, educators, and legislators are urging the nation's school districts to begin high schools later in the morning. A handful of high schools already have. The results in Minneapolis have been impressive.
Parents say it's easier to get their kids out of bed.
Kyla Wahlstrom, associate director at the University of Minnesota's Center for Applied Research, confirmed through research what Nelson was observing. She conducted studies of both the Edina and Minneapolis districts, comparing them with school districts that start an hour or more earlier and found that Edina and Minneapolis students were falling asleep in class less frequently and were more alert. She also found that kids in the Edina school district were less depressed. There are fewer temper tantrums and less moodiness. And parents are saying that their kids are easier to live with.