Pennsylvania School Districts Dismiss Research on Teen Sleep Needs

This year, the beginning of the school year was made a bit more interesting by an announcement released by the American Academy of Pediatrics. The esteemed medical group released a policy statement recommending that school districts shift the start time of high schools, adjusting their school schedules so that high school classes begin no earlier than 8:30 in the morning. The reasoning behind the guideline was the steady accumulation of data showing that adolescents need it. 

Research has shown that when children hit puberty, their body clocks take a sharp departure from what the rest of the world experiences. Their bodies manufacture melatonin, the hormone that induces sleep, approximately two hours later than is true for adults and younger children. Teens also require nine hours of sleep per night. This means that the teen body does not even begin to get tired until approximately 11:30 or midnight, which would mean that in order for them to get the optimal amount of sleep, school would have to start after 9:00 a.m. Most high schools in the United States begin their day at 7:00 or 7:30. The result is chronically sleep-deprived students who are unable to learn and who are at risk for driving accidents on their way to school.

Despite the strength of the scientific argument for shifting school schedules to accommodate the teens’ biological needs, most school districts have chosen to ignore the research, focusing instead on logistical or cost concerns. School districts in Pennsylvania are a case in point. A Pennsylvania School Boards Association spokesman revealed that there are no school districts in southwestern Pennsylvania that have adopted a later schedule. By way of example, a straw poll vote took place at the Gateway School Board meeting last week. The Gateway High School students begin class at 7:30 a.m. The vote was recorded as five members voting against the proposed later start time and three abstaining. This means that there will be no further consideration of the proposal.

According to the school board president, the later time would shift transportation costs higher, while another board member suggested that those who attend vocational school would have their school-related work schedule impacted. Still, there are voices being heard in favor of a shift, and some complained that the community had not been engaged in the decision making process, or even provided with information about the impact of sleep deprivation. Sleep researcher Peter Franzen of the University of Pittsburgh made a presentation to the board just prior to the vote, but the information he provided apparently made no impression.

Franzen said, “This is a biological tendency for later bedtimes and later wake times. This isn’t just a social phenomenon. People that go, ‘Oh, kids should just go to bed earlier.’ That’s arguing against the biology of what’s going on that occurs at puberty.”

It remains to be seen whether any other schools around the country are going to act on the recommendations that sleep researchers and health advocates are making.