Should School Start Later?

 Your phone shrieks. Confused and groggy, you open your eyes. Surely it isn’t time to get up already? You tap snooze and sink back into dreamland—until your dad knocks on the door.

“Wake up!” he calls. “The bus will be here in 10 minutes!”

You groan. Five more minutes. Please, please, pleeaasseeeee!

If this sounds familiar, you aren’t alone. Before the pandemic, nearly 70 percent of teens weren’t getting enough sleep.*

Last year, things were different. Many teens were able to sleep in because remote classes started later, didn’t require a commute, or gave students flexibility in their schedules. But now that in-person school has resumed, teens across America are once again battling their alarms, and a debate has reignited: Should school start later?

In the U.S., the average start time for middle and high schools is a few minutes after 8 a.m. It hasn’t always been this way, though. A century ago, most schools started around 9 a.m. Then in the 1970s, districts began shifting to earlier schedules for teens, with elementary age kids starting later. This saved districts money because it reduced the number of buses needed: When start times are staggered, the same buses can make multiple trips; otherwise, you need enough buses to transport all elementary, middle, and high school students at once.

Today, we know much more about teens and the science of sleep. Scientists now understand that adolescents experience something called “phase delay.” Here’s how it works: At night, our bodies release a hormone called melatonin that makes us sleepy. Around middle school, this melatonin release gets pushed back by one to two hours. As a result, many teens have a hard time falling asleep before 11 p.m. If you have to be at school by 8 a.m., it can be tough—if not impossible—to get the 8 to 10 hours of sleep you need to be healthy.

And that’s a problem.

“If teens aren’t getting enough sleep, it’s going to impact every aspect of their life,” says Dr. Lisa Meltzer, a sleep psychologist.

Indeed, being exhausted can make you cranky and sad. It can make it harder to concentrate, sit still, and learn. And it can weaken your immune system and impede your ability to make good decisions.

Given how critical sleep is to your well-being, it’s no surprise many experts recommend that middle and high schools start no earlier than 8:30 a.m.**

In 2017, Cherry Creek school district in Colorado pushed back start times for its middle and high schools. Since then, students have said they are less sleepy during the school day and participate more in first period. Meltzer, who led a study of Cherry Creek students, found that kids were sleeping more—and they stopped falling asleep doing their homework.

Over the past few years, hundreds of other schools have also experimented with later start times. The results have been promising, with students feeling more alert and fewer incidents of tardiness.

If later start times are good for teens, why doesn’t everyone make the switch? Unfortunately, it’s not so simple. For one thing, starting later means ending later, which leaves less time for after-school activities like sports, dance, and music. For outdoor activities, this is especially problematic during the winter, when daylight hours are limited.

Later dismissal times could also cut into after-school jobs and create scheduling conflicts for families. In Cherry Creek, some families say they have less time in the evening for homework and dinner.

Transportation is another obstacle. Later start times could require some districts to invest in additional buses and drivers, which can be costly. And many parents might not be able to drive their kids to school before work.

Of course, early start times aren’t the only reason that teens are exhausted. Many things can get in the way of a good night’s sleep, such as caffeine, stress, overscheduling, and too much screen time.

Still, the benefits of a later start time are compelling. So what do you think? Should more schools start later?

^{*Centers for Disease Control and Prevention}

^{**Recommended by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Medical Association, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention}

^{This article was originally published in the October 2022 issue}.