Finally, A School That Understands Teenagers!
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You're lost in the world of dreams and sleep. You roll over, smiling as you encounter a swimming pool filled with chocolate. And then 'poof' - Your wonderful dream becomes a nightmare where someone is screaming "GET UP!!" - No this isn't some boot camp, but just what every teenager goes through each morning!
Now, there seems to be one school that finally understands that requiring teens to show up at the ungodly hour of 9.00am is not just cruel but also detrimental, to both the kids and the school.
The Monkseaton High School in North Tyneside, Britain recently decided to experiment to see if there is any difference in student behavior if they just pushed back the start of their day by one hour, from 9.00am to 10.00am - And the results as we teens could have told you, are . . . . . . astounding.
Since implementing the later start, Monkseaton has seen a 28% drop in truancy, hardly any tardiness, and best of all, higher test scores. One of the reasons of course, is that the teenagers are much happier to have the extra hour of sleep, but there is also a scientific reason behind why they need the extra sleep.
The school's decision to push back the time was based on research conducted by Oxford professor Russell Foster, a neuroscientist, who concluded that teenagers have different sleep cycles than adults. Why? Because in young adults, the hormone melatonin that induces sleep, is secreted later than it is in adults, explaining why teenagers go to bed late and wake up late.
While adults are alert and ready at 8 AM, adolescents are not fully awake until 10 AM, sometimes even noon. Memory tests prove that the more difficult classes should be in the afternoon when teenagers are most alert.
Teachers may argue that their students perform better in the morning, but in reality it is because they in "the zone" while their students are still mildly sedated, making the students easier to control. By lunch, teachers are exhausted and kids are ready to go, giving the impression that students lose concentration over the day.
According to the scientist, teenagers remain 2 time zones behind their adult counterparts from ages, 13-21. After that, this time shift slowly reverses, so by the time a person approaches 50, they are waking up at the same time they did when they were 6.
The Monkseaton school officials are definitely encouraged by the results and plan on voting in June to make it a permanent change - Now if only the rest of the high schools in the world would listen and follow their example, and allow all teens could get some extra zzzz's. Personally, as a tired sixteen year-old, a late start would help me and my chemistry grade tremendously . . . . . .Is anybody listening?
sources: dailymail.co.uk,blog.taragana.com
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325 Comments
crystalmoriover 9 yearsMaybe I should print out this article and take it to school.
bigmeloover 9 yearsI know, right? I wonder what the teachers would say, & if there would be consequences...- crystalmoriover 9 yearsI have no idea. The officials at my school seem pretty open. They try out new ideas every few months. I think this might actually receive some good consideration if I brought it up to the Student Council or the principal.
- crystalmoriover 9 yearsBut only the class representatives are supposed to go to Student Council meetings. I'd have to get special permission.... Before that, though, I should find out what happens at those meetings and who's there to decide if it would even be worth it at all or if I should go with another tactic.
- crystalmoriover 9 yearsUgh.... I so feel you. I'm a first year in high school and have to get up at seven to get to school, which starts at 8:15. And at our school, if you're late to even one class (we have 7 total each day, plus morning assembly), you get lunch detention. This is especially crazy for me because it's winter, and I don't much like getting up before the sun rises. However, it's not as bad as when I went to my old school, which was 2 hours away by bus. I had to set my alarm for 5:30am and I was still tardy pretty often. Thankfully they didn't have the lunch detention thing, though. And despite the long hours and the mildly crazy amounts of homework, the culture there at the school was enough to make everything worth it. If I moved back to the Mountains, I'd want to go there again.
happy1929over 9 yearslucky
aphphilippinesover 9 yearsThey're lucky in my opinion,I'm 10 and I have to go to school at 8:00am.
onepiecefanover 9 yearsI wish others school were like that
animefan3over 9 yearsThere so lucky
shivi483over 9 yearsi start at 8am and finish 3;30
peacheslarueover 9 yearsI start at 8:10 and end at 3:30!
- jack over 9 yearslucky kids had nothing like this back in the day
purpledonut133over 9 yearsMy old school started at 9:00- bigmeloover 9 yearsWell, lucky you! My elementary school started at the same time.
frankiebabyover 9 yearsthat's awesome!
nikukyuover 9 yearsLucky!
- purpledonut133over 9 yearsMy school starts at 8:16 but i get up at 7:30 because i walk
- nikukyuover 9 yearsIt's not that bad. In Japan we don't have elementary school buses. You have to walk-there's no other option. I have to wake up at 7:00 and school starts on 8:00. Uggghhhh I'm sooo not a morning person...
- bigmeloover 9 yearsThat's really cool! My school starts at 8:00, & I wake up at 7:00! Instead of going on the bus, my brother & I are driven to school! It's really interesting - even if I am just beginning to experience what it feels like to be a teenager, I feel more tired when I actually do sleep rather than when I don't sleep at all! Maybe I'm a robot...it's what kids at my school think I am, anyway.
- aphphilippinesover 9 yearsYou and me both.It's worse in the US
- frankiebabyover 9 yearsIn my opinion, it isn't that bad because we go at 8, and I still have time to sleep. I get the advantage because the school is basically right next door to me.
- bigmeloover 9 yearsYou really do have the upper hand! I wonder what it's like to be neighbors with the source of your education...
