As school is getting ready to start in Fairfax County, Virginia how many Adolescents will be getting enough sleep this school year?
Research shows that on average that adolescents require 9.25 hours of sleep a night for good physical and mental health. However, with teens needing to be at their bus stop anywhere from 6:10am-6: 45am in Fairfax County for school start times starting around 7:20am it’s impossible for them to get 9 hours of sleep a night unless they go to bed at 9:00pm. How may adolescents do you know that go to bed at 9:00pm?
The American Academy of Pediatrics cites statistics from a National Sleep Foundation poll showing that as many as 59% of 6th- through 8th-graders and 87% of high school students in the United States get less than the recommended amount of sleep on school nights and that the average amount of school-night sleep obtained by high school seniors is fewer than 7 hours.
Adolescents have different sleep patterns and needs than adults or younger children. Hormonal influences of puberty shift the adolescents’ biological clocks. Judith Owens, MD, FAAP, director of sleep medicine at the Children’s National Health System and lead author of the policy statement, which was published in the September issue of Pediatrics states,“There are changes in circadian rhythms that occur in conjunction with puberty that simply make it very difficult for adolescents to go to sleep before 11 at night.” Changes in adolescence cause delays in the timing of nocturnal melatonin secretion, thereby slowing a youth’s ‘sleep drive,’ in which the pressure to fall asleep is more gradual, she added. Research has detailed the potential fallout when school schedules are not adjusted to correspond with the biological changes.
Various studies have shown that for adolescents, even a 30-minute earlier school start time is associated with shorter sleep duration, increased sleepiness, and problems with concentration, behavior, and absenteeism compared with later start times.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT FOR ADOLESCENTS TO GET AN ADEQUATE AMOUNT OF SLEEP?
Inadequate sleep has been linked to many physical, mental and social problems:
• Impairment of the immune system and susceptibility to illness
• Depression, anxiety and irritability
• Impaired metabolism, diabetes being overweight and obesity
• Acne
• Alcohol and caffeine abuse
• Hyperactivity
• Poor judgment, rebelliousness, risky behavior, lack of control, trouble with relationships
• Lower academic performance
• Decreased athletic performance and injury
• Car crashes due to drowsy driving
As we know teenagers are growing by leaps and bounds physically, socially and emotionally. Often they are moody, have mood swings,behavior issues and it’s hard to know as a parent what is normal and what is a problem. Many children and adolescents suffer with depression that goes undetected during their adolescence. “Depression is not only a symptom of sleep deprivation but can also be a cause.” Scientists refer to this as a “bidirectional” relationship (Dobson & Dozois, Risk Factors in Depression (Academic Press 2008) p. 109), or “bidirectional causal pathway.”They often suffer from sleep problems such as insomnia or hypersomnia (excessive sleepiness) or both. A 2005 study found that people with insomnia had greater depression and anxiety levels than people not having insomnia and were 9.82 and 17.35 times as likely to have clinically significant depression and anxiety, respectively.
WHY IS A LATER SCHOOL START TIME IMPORTANT?
• The University of Minnesota’s Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement (CAREI) has followed the changes made in the Minneapolis public schools. Among the benefits the CAREI study found
• One hour more sleep per school night on average
• Significantly increased attendance rates in all grades
• Increased continuous enrollment
• Decreased tardiness
• Improved behavior
• Lower rates of depression
• More student alertness, by teacher report
• Less sleepiness during school, by student report
• Fewer trips to school counselors and nurses
• Teens easier to live with, by parent report
There is also evidence that later start times can reduce the number of teen car accidents. Fayette County, Ky., found that after changing its start time to an hour later crashes among 16-to-18-year-old drivers decreased in the county, while they increased throughout the rest of the state.
Recently, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has issued a policy statement on school start times, urging middle schools and high schools to begin classes no earlier than 8:30 am, in order to address an epidemic of sleep insufficiency among adolescents and teens.
SLEEP in Fairfax has stated that research shows that later start times correspond with teen sleep needs and improve health, quality of life, and school performance. Isn’t this what every parent wants for their child?
Parents concerned about the health and educational impact of too-early high school start times have been working for change for ten years. SLEEP was started in January 2004 by Sandy Evans and Phyllis Payne. Momentum is building for a change, but they need your continuing support to finally accomplish the goal of so many parents, educators and health professionals!
For more information go to www.sleepinfairfax.org to learn more on how you can support Fairfax County Schools in voting for changes in the SLEEP schedule.
Written by: Sheri Mitschelen, LCSW, RPT/S Owner and Director of Crossroads Family Counseling Center, LLC and Family and Play Institute of Virginia. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) in the State of Virginia and a Registered Play Therapy-Supervisor (RPT-S). She has 25 years of experience working with children, adolescents and families. She also has a Ninth grader that gets up at 5:40am every morning to catch a 6:13am bus in Fairfax County.
