The University of Pittsburgh’s Center of Sleep and Circadian Science is calling on the state to require high schools to start class later in the day. At a panel discussion this week, medical experts joined a local school administrator to tout the benefits of letting teens sleep in. “This is not an education issue, it’s a health issue,” said Joanna Fong-Isariyawongse, a UPMC neurologist and Pitt professor of neurology.
She noted a “tight correlation between sleep deprivation and things like suicide and risky driving.” Experts argue that waking teens up before their bodies are ready can lead to more chronic sleep deprivation, which can precipitate learning challenges as well as physical and mental health issues. “It's really an inflection point for the onset of other mental health disorders, which can really set the trajectories for mental health into adulthood,” said Wendy Troxel, senior behavioral and social scientist at the RAND corporation.
Research also shows that student athletes who suffer from chronic lack of sleep are more likely to experience sports-related injuries . The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control recommend that middle and high schoolers start no earlier than 8:30 a.m.
“With puberty, the circadian system naturally delays such that bedtime and wake time are later than before,” research published by the agency in 2022 reads. “This can be aggravated by modern social factors. Adolescent sleep patterns differ o.