A growing body of research is confirming what many teenagers and their parents have known for quite some time: Many teens have difficulty falling asleep early enough at night to get the necessary nine hours of sleep and still make it to school on time the next morning. Research shows that adolescents have a natural biological clock that is governed by internal circadian rhythms, which has led many policymakers, researchers, and medical professionals to advocate that high schools should start no earlier than 8:30 a.m.
Dr. Meena Mehta, a physician board-certified in sleep medicine, recently gave a presentation in which she shared the research on this topic. Her points included data that indicated many of our teenagers are currently in a state of what she describes as “sleep debt.” She emphasized that it is now well known that being sleep deprived can lead to myriad problems at school, both behavioral and attentional. Dr. Mehta and her colleagues at the sleep center in Emerson Hospital have advocated that families and schools work together to address the issue of adolescent sleep needs.
This year a group of teachers, administrators, and community members has been examining our school schedules in light of this growing body of research which suggests that teens would be more successful if their school day started later, thus allowing more time for needed sleep. Obviously, any potential change in schedule has a wide range of implications that need to be considered. To gather data from various stakeholder groups, the committee has developed an extensive survey that is being distributed to all faculty, school parents, and students in grade five and higher. A link to that survey is being e-mailed to parents and is also available at the district website www.psharvard.org. Our committee will carefully examine the findings of this survey in light of the research, along with anecdotal evidence from districts that have already moved to a later starting time for high school students. We anticipate holding community forums in the fall to review our survey results and discuss preliminary recommendations. Please know that no potential change in schedule is being considered for the fall of 2008.
For those of you interested in learning more about this topic, I encourage you to visit the website www.sleepfoundation.org or www.keepkidshealthy.com. Also, my office would be glad to send out copies of articles we have collected. My e-mail address is tjefferson@psharvard.org.
Thomas Jefferson
Superintendent of Schools
