Some People Would Argue . . .
Some people would say teenagers should go to bed earlier if they are tired and need more sleep but these people do not understand how different an adolescent’s sleep cycle is. Even if students want to go to bed earlier it can prove challenging. This is because of the melatonin that is not produced until later in the evening. St. George’s School, a high school in Rhode Island, performed a study with the help of Dr. Judith Owens. The school delayed their start time by thirty minutes. About two hundred students agreed to participate in the study and completed a sleep habits' survey before and after the shift in the school-start time (Dooren 1). At the end of the study, the average sleep duration on school nights increased by forty five minutes (Dooren 1). There were noticeable changes in the students because of this extra rest. The number of students who either missed or were late to their first class because they overslept fell to forty four events from eighty events (Dooren 1). There were also changes in mood with the percentage of students who rated themselves as depressed or "at least somewhat unhappy" falling to forty five percent from sixty six percent before the later start time (Dooren 1). The percentage of students who reported feeling annoyed or irritated throughout the day fell by twenty one percent (Dooren 1). After the initial trial period, students and faculty voted to keep the later start time (Dooren 1). This school serves as a good example in showing all the positive effects that starting at a later time has on the students. To read more about St. George's school click here.