Sleep and The Effect It Has On Academic Performance

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Introduction Sleep studies have been conducted since as early as 1913. However, the impact of school start times on student academics is often overlooked by most schools. In reality, start times can significantly affect academic performance by disrupting adolescents' normal sleep cycle, leading to a lack of sleep that impairs learning, and hindering academic performance. These theories have been tested through sleep studies, and most of them have been found to be true. Sleep Cycle Changes When children transition from primary school to middle or high school, it can significantly affect their learning due to changes in their sleep cycle. According to Dr. Judith Owens, director of the Sleep Medicine Clinic at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., "adolescents are programmed to fall asleep later" (2013). She advocates for later school start times because "we are asking [teens] to be awake and alert at the time in their 24-hour clock when their alertness level is at its very lowest" (2013). Additionally, most teens cannot fall asleep until 11 p.m. Sleep expert Amy Wolfson of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., recommends that children aim for eight and a half to nine and a half hours of sleep per night. Waking up at 6 a.m. can disrupt sleep patterns and lead to sleep deprivation. A new poll conducted by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Harvard School of Public Health has revealed that 50 percent of high school students report starting school at 8 a.m. or earlier....

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...Education World. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin314.shtml Aubrey, A. (2013, December 2). Parents Of Sleep-Deprived Teens Push For Later School Start Times. NPR. Retrieved March 4, 2014, from http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/12/02/247314202/parents-of-sleep-deprived-teens-push-for-later-school-start-times Carpenter, S. (n.d.). Sleep deprivation may be undermining teen health. http://www.apa.org. Retrieved March 6, 2014, from http://www.apa.org/monitor/oct01/sleepteen.aspx Trudeau, M. (2007, January 18). High Schools Starting Later to Help Sleepy Teens. NPR. Retrieved March 6, 2014, from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6896471

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