School start times ‘too early’ for sleep-hungry teens – researchers say

Frustrated when your teen fusses and grumbles when you try to rouse them for school in the morning? You might need to cut them some slack.

School start times force teenagers to wake up “earlier than they are programmed to”, according to the School Start Time Study Advisory Group – a collection of New Zealand health and education researchers.

In a paper published on Friday in the New Zealand Medical Journal, they say a school start time of no earlier than 9.45am for senior secondary school students (years 12 and 13) would help.

Later start times were an “attractive, non-stigmatising approach to address adolescent sleep”, said Barbara Galland​, a professor at the Univeristy of Otago’s Department of Women’s and Children’s Health.

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Several factors impact both the quality and amount of sleep teenagers get, including the use of electronic devices, social media, after-school activity commitments, homework requirements and differing cultural sleep norms.

Health guidelines suggest adolescents aged between 14 and 18 need 8 to 10 hours of sleep per night for “optimal health and daytime functioning”.

In other words: It’s not (just) your teen being lazy. It’s their biology.

Adolescents’ natural sleep-wake biology shifts at puberty to favour later bedtimes, meaning they naturally need to wake later in the morning. This does not change again until about age 21.

This is because of a delay in the release of the “night” hormone melatonin which aids sleep onset. The release of melatonin is suppressed around three hours before waking.

In adults, this is around 4am, but in adolescents, this is not until about 7am.

Poorer quality or inadequate sleep can lead to trouble remembering or concentrating on things, being in a bad mood, more likely to make mistakes, bad decisions or have accidents.

Close to 40% of teens in Aotearoa report sleeping less than the recommended hours for their age, and 57% say their sleep is of poor quality. The impacts of sleep-related issues on mental health and wellbeing are more likely to be experienced by Māori.

Drawing on existing research, the group said moving school start times later could lead to better academic success, better physical and mental wellbeing, reduce the risk of depression and the impacts of “social jet lag”.

“We’re advocating for [later school start times],” Galland said.

It was also theorised a later start time could improve school attendance rates which have dropped alarmingly in recent years.

One UK study found a state school shifting its start times from 8.50am to 10am led to a “significant decline in absenteeism due to illness”.

More locally, in 2006, Wellington High School introduced later start times for its senior students (starting at 9.45am Monday to Friday and 10.20am on Wednesday) in 2006, following research with Massey University.

However, principal Dominic Killalea noted this had been abandoned late last year, as the school had had to become more flexible to cater to more varied needs.

“Although we liked the idea of creating a later start, there were a lot of other factors working against us, including many students who didn’t want a later start,” he said.

The later start also “compromised student choices” as subjects were squashed into a smaller timetable as the school couldn’t finish late without compromising sporting and cultural activities that occur in afternoons and early evenings.

The school had now reverted to an 8.45am start for nearly all students.

Galland acknowledged later school start times for senior students would impact many people and recommended a survey of key stakeholders – such as teens aged over 16, parents, high school principals and teachers – be conducted before being implemented.