School disrupts sleep patterns

A new study published in this month's Pediatrics confirms that high school-aged students lose sleep due to school schedules. The study included 60 incoming seniors, who kept sleep logs in August, November, and February. They were also given computerized and paper-and-pencil tests at different times of the schoolday. The researchers concluded:

Adolescents lost as much as 120 minutes of sleep per night during the week after the start of school.... All students performed better in the afternoon than in the morning. Students in early morning classes reported being wearier, being less alert, and having to expend greater effort.

The results of this study demonstrated that current high school start times contribute to sleep deprivation among adolescents. Consistent with a delay in circadian sleep phase, students performed better later in the day than in the early morning.... Both short-term and long-term strategies that address the epidemic of sleep deprivation among adolescents will be necessary to improve health and maximize school performance.

So if you get any grief from friends or relatives about your homeschooled teen being a night owl or sleeping till noon, well, click on the link above and send 'em the abstract!