The hope teenagers might leap out of bed at the crack of dawn with a spring in their step and a merry song on their lips as they prepare for the school day is a forlorn one in many homes. It is more likely to be a battle for parents and caregivers to get the teen to desert the duvet in time to get to school on time, possibly accompanied by sounds more guttural than song.
Accordingly, there will be considerable interest in the call for later school starting times for senior high school pupils.
It has come from health and education researchers in the School Start Time Study Group in an editorial published last week in the New Zealand Medical Journal.
Making life easier for parents and caregivers is not the driver of the call which the group describes as a "no-brainer".
The researchers draw attention to the links between poor sleep and poor mental health and studies which have suggested sleep disturbance can be a precursor to depression in adolescents. It is estimated that nearly 40% of New Zealand teenagers sleep less than recommended and nearly 60% say their sleep is of poor quality.
Because they go to sleep later, they need to get up later. The researchers argue that waking a teen at 7am equates to waking an adult at 4am.
Catching up on sleep at weekends is not enough and can be part of the problem. The researchers say this weekday-weekend variable sleep pattern can be detrimental and has links to attention problems, depressive symptoms, poorer academic performance, higher risk of substance abuse, overweight/obesity, self-harm and suicidality.
One of the issues many parents and caregivers struggle with is getting their teens away from their electronic devices in the evenings. The impact on sleep of the exposure to the blue light emitted by phone screens has been well-documented.
The researchers say they are not dismissing the importance of healthy sleep behaviour, including avoiding light and screen use before bed, and stimulating drinks, but they do not see that as sufficient.
They see changes in start times as most beneficial for senior school pupils, in years 12 and 13.
The school start time they are suggesting is 9.45am. Many might be quick to point out the logistical difficulties in this for families, particularly if other members of the household have to be out the door much earlier than this. Would parents/caregivers be able to trust their teens would emerge after they left? Would it be another stress for parents to cope with or an opportunity for teenagers to learn to be more self-sufficient?
For those working from home, or with flexible working hours, it might not be such an issue, but it has to be recognised that is not the situation for all workers.
What may be a surprise to some is that secondary schools are able to set start times to suit their needs.
According to the researchers, few schools have taken up the chance to look at the question. The exception is Wellington High School which has offered senior pupils 9.45am starts for four days of the week and a 10.20am start on Wednesdays since 2006. Impressively, the school has managed to adapt its timetables so the school finishing time has not changed.
At a time when concerns about the state of young people’s mental and physical health, poor school attendance and falling achievement rates are often in the headlines, it makes sense for this to be explored further.
