Time Stands Still

"The early bird gets the worm", often true in most cases, but not entirely accurate when dealing with adolescents. When children become teenagers they experience a severe alteration in their biological clock and because of early high school starting times teens are attending school during what should be the last one-third of their sleeping period. This lack of sleep, or, sleep deprivation, is negatively affecting their health, grades and overall mood, therefore high school starting times should be pushed back.

Everyone has an internal biological clock; it's what allows us to sleep at night and wakes us up in the morning. Dr. Mary Carskadon, Director of sleep and Chronobiology Research and Professor of Psychiatry and Human behavior at Brown University, says that while we sleep our body secretes the hormone melatonin. This particular hormone's turn off serves as a biological alarm clock. In prepubescent years, the shut off of melatonin is at approximately 7:15 a.m., however as teenagers go through puberty it becomes increasingly later, falling at around 9:00 a.m. This reason accounts for why most teenagers walk around like zombies during school; they don't know what it's like to be fully awake (qtd. in Diconsiglio).

Ronald Dahl, Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center say "Animals without sleep die. Sleep is not just rest, it's essential to life" Although adolescents are not dieing from sleep deprivation directly, many of them are experiencing negative side effects, some of which are potentially life threatening. While sleeping, hormones are secreted, some of these horomones help the body absorb nutrients, heal tissue, fight tumors and viral infections, and stimulate the production of the immune system cells. Sleep loss will break down our youth's immune systems and slowly deteriorate their health (Diconsiglio). According to the National Sleep Foundation, twenty-four percent of young adults admit they have dosed while driving, 1500 out of 100,000 auto accidents per year were linked to drowsy drivers. The National Traffic Safety Administration said half involved drivers from ages fifteen to twenty-four (qtd. in Diconsiglio). School is preparing teens for the rest of their life, but if they're falling asleep while driving who is to say they'll make it that far.

There is clear evidence that links sleep deprivation to emotional and behavioral problems amongst teens. Sleep deprived adolescents often experience irritability, moodiness, and low tolerance for frustration; however, in some situations teenagers appear silly, impulsive, or sad (Dahl). If a sleep-deprived teen is faced with a frustrating situation the chances are higher of them becoming angry and aggressive more quickly than if they had adequate sleep. The same holds true for a humorous situation, tired adolescents are likely to get overly silly and aroused. Researchers at Stanford University found that tired teens tend to have an increased drug and alcohol use and a higher rate of automobile accidents. These same researchers are currently working on an investigation linking sleep deprivation in the rising rate of adolescent depression and suicide (qtd. in Black). Adolescents who get more sleep or who sleep on a more regular schedule have less complaints of a depressed mood that those teenagers that that receive less than seven hours of a sleep a night and who report more than a two-hour difference between school night and weekend bedtimes (Dahl). Schools early starting times are contributing to this factor, and perhaps endangering their student's psychological well-being.

Sleep deprivation effects the motivation of students as well as their attention span. It can often mimic the symptoms of ADHD, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, with symptoms including distractibility, impulsivity, and difficulty with control of attention (Dahl). Since attention as well as motivation is both key elements of learning, grades are often seen to be lower in one with a considerable amount of sleep loss. Over twenty percent of high school students report falling asleep at some point in school (United Teachers). What good is it to be in school early if students are just dosing off? In a study done by Carskadon evaluating the average hours of sleep a night to grades, it was shown that the students who obtained the most sleep were also the students who had the highest grades. As the average amount of sleep decreased, so did the student's grades (qtd. in Diconsiglio).

The solution to all of these complaints