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Going to School Early May Not Make You Wiser

It may be easier to stuff an angry octopus through a small hole than wake a teenager before 8 a.m.
Teens are known for their ability to stay up late and sleep in. And while many see it as another form of teen rebellion, research shows this time, it’s not.
“Biologically, they are predisposed to sleep later – end of story,” said researcher Mary O’Malley with the Norwalk Hospital Sleep Disorders Center in Norwalk, Conn.
O’Malley presented research at the 2008 annual meeting of the American Association of Sleep Medicine in June examining the effect of getting up early for school on teen sleep and wellbeing.
Studies have shown adolescents do not get the recommended eight hours of sleep which has an adverse effect on their mood and performance.
O’Malley’s research tested the theory that delaying high school start times 40 minutes would give teens the opportunity for more sleep. But parents and educators worried the extra time would not be used for sleep.
To prove her theory, O’Malley and her team of researchers studied the sleep pattern of high schoolers before and after school start times were pushed back.
The results: “Kids, given the opportunity …didn’t delay bedtime significantly. More importantly, their rise time was significantly delayed.”
In other words, they slept longer – on average more than half an hour longer.
“It made a difference in how they felt,” O’Malley said. “Moral in school went way up.”
Also, more students reported “no problem” with sleepiness after the schedule change, O’Malley said.
Numerous other studies have been done quantifying the amount of sleep high school students get on school night and the effect it has on their performance. Several studies have shown that students do not perform well before 9 a.m. In Connecticut, the momentum may be gaining for delaying school start times. The legislature there has forbidden schools from giving high stakes testing before 9 a.m.
In adolescents, “their maximum sleepiness is between 5 a.m. and 8 a.m. in the morning,” said O’Malley. “Their brain is not on.”
But it’s not just school start times which can effect how students perform academically.
A study by researchers at the University of Arizona tested how extending sleep in adolescents effected their academic performance and overall sleep.
Participants were allowed to sleep normally for a week, then a group was told to extend their sleep by at least 60 minute for thee nights.
Those who increased their sleep said they had less difficulty waking up in the mornings, spent more time asleep and fell asleep faster than those who did not extend their sleep.
Then researchers tested their cognitive ability. And those who slept longer performed better on cognitive tests.
Similar results were found in a study of military cadets.
Military researchers at the U.S. Army Aeromedical Research Laboratory studied the effects of sleep and academic performance on the military students.
The sleep patterns of 108 military volunteers were studied before an after they were given tests. The students who slept longer made better grades than those who stayed up later studying.
“Regardless of course or exam content, academic performance was significantly related to the amount and quality of sleep obtained within the 48-hour period preceding exams.
And a study by the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C. found students at a community college who went to bed early and who had early morning classes did better than those who stayed up late.
According to researcher Arne Eliasson, the sleep before midnight was most important to their performance.
(Written by Dorren Robinson)

Sources
SLEEP PATTERNS OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS BEFORE AND AFTER DELAYED SCHOOL START TIME
Htwe ZW, Cuzzone D, O’Malley MB, O’Malley EB
Norwalk Hospital Sleep Disorders Center, Norwalk Hospital, Norwalk, CT, USA
SLEEP AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN A COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Eliasson AH1, Lettieri C2,3, Eliasson A2,3
1Scholars Program, Montgomery College, Rockville, MD, USA, 2Medicine, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA, 3Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA
TOTAL SLEEP TIME MEASURED BY ACTIGRAPHY PREDICTS ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE DURING MILITARY TRAINING
Estrada A1, Killgore WD2,3, Rouse T1, Balkin TJ2, Wildzunas RM1
1Warfighter Health and Performance Division, U.S. Army Aeromedical Research Laboratory, Fort Rucker, AL, USA, 2Behavioral Biology, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, MD, USA, 3Cognitive Neuroimaging Laboratory, Harvard Medical School, Belmont, MA, USA