Doctors Urge Schools To Let Students Sleep In

Doctors are urging schools to let students sleep in.

Those are words I would have LOVED to have heard when I was 16; now they irritate me.

So, what is this all about?

I remember when I was in high school waking up at 6 a.m. to give myself enough time to get a shower, eat breakfast and catch the bus for our school's 7:30 a.m. start. Yeah, it was early, but that's just the way it was.

Now, doctors are saying that schools should delay middle school and high school classes until at least 8:30 a.m.

Why couldn't they have said that back in 2001???

They now say that starting later is "an effective countermeasure to chronic sleep loss."

USA Today reports that factors including...

"...biological changes in sleep associated with puberty, lifestyle choices, and academic demands," negatively impact teens' ability to get enough sleep, and pushing back school start times is key to helping them achieve optimal levels of sleep – 8½ to 9½ hours a night, says the American Academy of Pediatrics statement, released Monday and published online in Pediatrics.

What do you think? Should school start later?