Introduction
Sleep studies have been around for as far back as 1913. The start times of school and how it affects student academics is not usually looked at by most schools, but start times actually affect academic performance because it changes adolescents normal sleep cycle, creates a lack of sleep which affects the way children learn, and later start times create better performance. All of these theories have been tested with sleep studies and most of them were found to be true.
Sleep Cycle Changes
When children make the transition from primary school to middle school or high school, it affects them a lot when the changing of their own sleep cycle affects the way they actually ...view middle of the document...
It impairs things that students need to learn and remember with like attention, alertness, concentration, reasoning, and problem solving. Being tired when you learn something can also affect how you remember what you were taught. Cornell University psychologist James B. Maas, PhD, one of the nation's leading sleep experts, says that "Almost all teen-agers, as they reach puberty, become walking zombies because they are getting far too little sleep," (2001). You can see this because sleep deprivation affects students mood which come into correlation with students inhibitions. When students are in a bad mood from being so tired in the morning they do not want to do anything.
Research has also shown a correlation between sleep deprived teens and bad grades. Psychologists Amy R. Wolfson, PhD, of the College of the Holy Cross, and Mary A. Carskadon, PhD, of Brown University Medical School did a survey in 1998 of more than 3,000 school students. The students who reported that they were getting C’s, D’s, and F’s were getting 25 minutes less of sleep and didn't go to sleep until 40 minutes later than other students who got A’s and B’s. Students need more sleep because it really has a bad affect on learning.
Better Sleep, Better Attendance
Schools are getting angered over the attendance of a lot of their own students. Students who are tired in the morning usually dread going to school, so they decide to skip. Later school times could create better attendance it lets students fully wake up well rested and energized. in 2003, Jessamine County's high schools started 50 minutes later. School District Supervisor, Lu Young, says the change has had an amazing role on our students and staff. Young says,...
