Later start times for Nevada schools would give kids healthy foundation to succeed

Generations of teens have pleaded with their parents for just five more minutes of sleep before school. Now, with the backing of scientific research, teens may finally get their wish.

As the Sun’s Hillary Davis reported earlier this week, the Nevada Board of Education is considering guidelines for the state’s largest districts to start school later in the morning. We offer our whole-hearted endorsement of later start times for schools as an evidence-backed policy that can help our students thrive.

Teen sleep schedules rarely align with those of their parents or guardians. Parents and teachers can attest to the reality that even when teens do pull themselves out of bed, they can be woefully unprepared to perform at a high level in the early morning hours.

While it’s easy for adults to explain away this behavior as laziness or irresponsibility, science tells a different story.

Thirty years of research from multiple countries around the world show that the biology of teens is different than their fully matured counterparts, especially as it relates to sleep. According to UCLA Health, the onset of puberty causes changes to circadian rhythms that shift the feeling of sleepiness and the ability to fall asleep approximately two hours later than in pre-pubescent children or adults.

Despite this evidence, school start times for middle- and high school students have been getting progressively earlier over the past six decades. According to the National Center for Health Research, in the 1950s and 1960s, most schools started instruction after 8:30 a.m. By 2000, many high schools started instruction at 7:30 a.m. or earlier. Most Clark County School District high schools currently begin instruction at 7 a.m.

These earlier start times, combined with the natural shift in adolescent sleep schedules, known as “sleep phase delay,” leads teens to suffer from a chronic lack of sleep. This, in turn, leads to its own maladies.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns that “not getting enough sleep is common among high school students and is associated with several health risks including being overweight, drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco and using drugs, as well as poor academic performance.”

The problem has become so pronounced that the American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended that middle and high schools start at 8:30 a.m. or later to give students the opportunity to get the amount of sleep they need.

The research and recommendations led California to enact a law last year prohibiting instruction in middle schools before 8 a.m. and in high schools before 8:30 a.m.

Critics of the California law argued that shifting start times wouldn’t help students get more sleep because the students would simply stay up later — a politely worded version of “lazy and irresponsible.” But the evidence shows that although students in districts with later start times do stay up slightly later, it is not in proportion to the shift, meaning they still gain valuable sleep time.

In Seattle Public Schools, which moved to later start times in 2016, shifting school start times by 55 minutes resulted in an additional 34 minutes of sleep per night. In other words, shifting school start times to be 55 minutes later only led students to stay up 21 minutes longer. This left the remainder for much needed sleep and led to a significant increase in attendance and academic performance in Seattle public schools.

Examples like Seattle are leading Nevada to consider a similar proposal that would result in a dramatic shift from CCSD’s current 7 a.m.-1 p.m. schedule that was put in place to address a shortage of bus drivers.

While the driver shortage remains, other solutions must be identified. Children’s health and academic performance should not be sacrificed to resolve inefficiencies in transportation or workforce availability. Nor should the Board of Education willfully ignore science and data because of societal perceptions about teen laziness or irresponsibility.

This does not mean a one-size-fits-all start time for every school district, regardless of circumstances. Nevada is a diverse state with a range of interests and communities that should be considered.

Moreover, formal in-classroom education is not the only valid form of education. Extracurricular activities, familial responsibilities and limited paid employment have all been shown to help young people develop character, responsibility and tools for maintaining physical and mental health. But when balancing these interests, opportunities for healthy sleep and strong academic performance must be paramount.

Given that both research and anecdote show that teens are more likely to reduce their sleep deficits, attend classes and improve academic performance when the school day is adjusted, imposing a later start time for instruction is a no-brainer.

Parents and guardians can also help encourage habits that promote good sleep for themselves and their teens. The CDC recommends that all people, regardless of age, try to adhere to a regular sleep schedule, including on weekends. In the 1-2 hours immediately preceding a regular bedtime, dimming the lights and imposing a curfew on screens and electronics can also promote a full night of restful sleep.