To combat sleep loss, California schools are pushing back start times

Story at a glance

• California public high schools and middle schools have begun implementing later start times. 

• It’s an effort to get students to sleep more after research has found most teens live with mild to severe sleep deprivation. 

• The American Sleep Association recommends teenagers get eight to 10 hours of sleep every night. 

Beginning this month, public high schools in California are starting later in a statewide effort to help adolescents get more sleep and combat a national sleep crisis.

California’s SB 328 went in effect July 1. The law requires public high schools to start no earlier than 8:30 am and middle schools no earlier than 8 am, citing the academic benefits of a later school start time.

The American Sleep Assocation (ASA) recommends teenagers get eight to 10 hours of sleep every night, but many don’t. With busy schedules, active social lives and rapidly changing bodies, teens face varying reasons for their lack of sleep.

One 2010 study found most teens are living with mild to severe sleep deprivation — with only 8 percent of U.S. high school students getting the recommended amount of sleep. Researchers found 23 percent of teens only got six hours of sleep on an average school night and 10 percent only got five hours.

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The study also noted that many teens often participate in more activities than they have time for, resulting in less sleep. It’s a cycle that worsens by the fact that some high schools start as early as 7:20 am, while research has shown that teens don’t function well before 9 am.

Insufficient sleep takes a toll on academic performance, with the National Sleep Foundation poll finding 28 percent of students reported falling asleep in school at least once a week and more than one in five fell asleep doing homework with similar frequency.

The American Academy of Pediatrics also recommends school districts help optimize sleep in students by aiming for start times that give them the opportunity to get eight and a half to nine and a half hours of sleep.

Not getting enough sleep has serious consequences beyond poor academic performance, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) noting it can lead to teens being overweight, not engaging in daily physical activity and taking on unhealthy behaviors like drinking, smoking tobacco and using illicit drugs.

Lack of sufficient sleep is also linked to teens being more likely to suffer from symptoms of depression.

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