It begins too early in the year and too early in the day. Could letting teenagers sleep later in the morning do more than just make teenagers happy?

New evidence suggests that a later start to the school day could have many benefits, like better academic achievement and better social behavior. Over the summer, most teenagers have stayed long hours on social media and spent most of their time watching T.V. while other teenagers have had many busy summer days like getting ready for college and other college related things. Now that summer is over, it is time to go to school and begin to achieve good grades. Like clockwork it seems the time has again arrived where it is impossible for teenagers to get up, but it may not be their fault.

The root of the problem is that in puberty, their “body clocks,” pushes optimal sleep time forward. Teenagers can struggle to fall asleep before 11 p.m. even if they’re lying in bed for hours. When dawn rolls around, they haven’t gotten close to the 8½ to 9½ hours of sleep their still-growing brains and bodies need.

Sarah Spinks producer of Frontline magazine indicates in her article Adolescents and Sleep that teenagers are biologically incapable of going to bed at a sensible time around 8 or 9 p.m. and it in turn is hard for them to get up early as well.

Jenny Inglee, education editor at takepart.com says in her article Does the School Day Really Need to Start So Early that over time, sleep deprivation leads to serious consequences for academic achievement, social behavior, and the health and safety of our nation’s youth.

If school started a little later, adolescents would get enough sleep and it might reduce the risk of being overweight or teenagers suffering with depression. Teenagers will get more sleep, teenagers will have a good breakfast and they would have time to review their studies.

Just shifting the school time by 45 min would make a huge difference and solve countless problems. If teenagers get more sleep they are likely to have better grades and higher standardized test scores and an overall better quality of life.

Research:

Adolescents are increasingly using stimulants to compensate for sleep loss, and caffeinated and/or sugary drinks are the usual choice. Russell Foster in The Science of Sleepy Teenagers.

The Fairfax Virginia school district surveyed students in grades 8, 10 and 12 and found two-thirds of them were sleeping seven hours or less each school night. Among high school seniors, 84 percent routinely slept less than seven hours each night during the 2011 survey. Philip Elliot Education Chief: Maybe Start School Later In The Day.