High School Middle School

Sleep and Your Student’s Success

by Robyn | August 24th, 2010 | View Comments

Everyone could use an extra hour of sleep. I know I certainly could. You probably could. What about your teen? How much could he or she benefit from some extra snoozing before the school bell rings?

An article in today’s Los Angeles Times suggests that kids who sleep more – and go to school later – are more likely to succeed. In Later Start Times and ZZZs to A’s, the author shares research from teen sleep experiments in school districts that changed start times from 7:15 to 8:40, 7:25 to 8:30 and 8:00 to 8;30. As a result, the students in these schools were:

  • More alert in morning classes
  • Calmer during lunchtime
  • Fighting less
  • Happier
  • Raising their hands more often in class
  • Staying awake in class
  • Getting better grades
  • Attending their classes
  • On time more often
  • Staying healthy
  • More likely to graduate
  • Even easier to live with

And it’s all because they got a few extra hours of sleep. In fact, scientists quoted in the article say most kids can’t even sleep before 11pm if they tried, thanks to a delayed release of melatonin when they get older.

Maybe you can’t get too upset with them for hitting the sleep button once too often.

What are your thoughts on teen sleep and later school start times?

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  • Cynthia E

    My two teen daughters are late sleepers. Going to bed before 11PM was rare in our household. I always felt bad about the fact they struggled to get up each morning, although, it was the result of not getting enough sleep. How do you force someone, especially at that age to sleep. You don’t.
    Anyway now that they are both in college, they more control of their class schedule, etc. They seem to do quiet well with going to bed late and sleepinig in.

  • http://www.skippingdinner.com/?tag=robyn Robyn

    Thank you for sharing your comment, Cynthia. It’s great to hear that your daughters have adjusted so well to their college schedules. Knowing how hard it is for them to sleep before 11, would you have liked their high school to implement a later or more flexible schedule?

  • http://www.skippingdinner.com/?tag=hannah Hannah

    My high school didn’t start until nine, but had an optional “zero hour” period at eight. The district had done research on sleep deprivation and decided that sleeping in would positively impact performance.

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