Starting School Later

This story basically says teenagers should get to start school later. They do in my school district, but in order to allow them to do that, my kid's bus(grade school) comes at 6:51! It's incredibly early and I wish it were an hour later. It would really benefit him. I think it's hard for little kids to start that early too. I will never win that argument though. Maybe I should just move across the street from the school! I am sure when my kids are in high school I will appreciate the later start time for high schoolers. I am pretty sure my bell for high school rang before 8a.m. How about yours?

FROM NBC: For many teens the routine of getting up early never comes easy. We look at a new study showing the benefits of delaying school start times in today's health minute. It's 5:22 in the morning, and 16-year-old Renã Carrasquilla from Atlanta, Georgia is already getting up for school. His bus comes at 6:20. The first bell rings at 7:25. Doctors say teens need nine hours of sleep. Rena doesn't get nearly that much. "9 hours of sleep? I don't think that's possible for high school if you have to get up at 5 or at 6. That means you have to be in bed at 8 or 9. "

Experts say about 80 percent of high school students are sleep deprived. They're biologically programmed to stay up late. "There clearly is a shift in adolescents to a natural bedtime and wake time being 2 or even 3 hours later than it was in elementary school.

Teen sleep expert Judith Owens wants high schools to consider starting later. She did a study at St. George's school in Rhode Island where they delayed school start time by thirty minutes. The results were stunning: kids were much more alert. Starting school later actually got kids to bed earlier, and we think that was in large part by virtue of their being better rested, they were able to be more efficient and get their work done. Getting just a few more precious minutes of sleep would certainly make a difference to Renã and his family.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

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