Feeling tired, cranky, and “out of it” in the mornings? Does it last at least half the day before you feel any better? This can easily be from a lack of sleep. Being a high school student with 6 hours of academic work, and then hours of after school job or athletic work it can really take a toll on the student.

This has been a hot topic recently due a lot of new research. Researchers from the University of Oxford, Harvard Medical School and the University of Nevada did a lot of research looking into the effects of this lack of sleep on adolescents . “Students could improve their learning and have fewer health problems if schools accommodated the unique circadian rhythms of young people. In fact, the study they’ve published suggested that modifying start times would be less expensive than other kinds of interventions schools are using”(Schauffhauser). Also  according to author Schauffhauser, a common myth is that kids are tired in the morning due to staying up late because they choose to and are lazy when it comes to waking up, which doesn’t seem to be the case due to the research conducting. In an article done by the journal.com they stated, “By forcing students to get up “too early in their circadian cycle,” schools are “systematically restricting the time available for sleep and causing severe and chronic sleep loss.” The result is “poor communication, decreased concentration and cognitive performance, unintended sleeps, decreased motor performance, increased risk taking and changes in mood pattern, specifically depression.”

“The researchers pointed to previous sleep study research in advising schools to consider synchronizing class start times to adolescent biology. At the age of 10, the “biological wake time” is about 6:30; so school should start between 8:30 and 9, the researchers wrote. At 16, the wake time is 8, so the school start time should be between 10 and 10:30. And at 18, the wake time is about 9, so the start time for classes should be between 11 and 11:30.” from the outlooks teens aren’t getting enough sleep and their bodies seem to be crying out for help. These teens are in some of the most stressful times of their lives as new life struggles and adventures come up and in these tender years they can use all the sleep they can get.

Other schools have tried this new start time and the results seem to be nothing but positive. “Back in 1997 Minneapolis Public Schools shifted its high school start time from 7:15 to 8:40. The research on that program looked at data on 50,000 students collected before and after the start time was changed. ‘The self-reported student evidence indicated that students liked the change, slept an hour longer compared to students in two other similar school districts and reported their attendance, achievement, behavior and mood improved,’” the report stated. On top of that, the researchers added, 9 in 10 parents were “very positive about the later start” and reported that their children “were easier to live with.” says the article. How do we feel about Naugatuck High School trying out this new start time? Is it time for some positive changes?