According to a new U.S study, teen drivers who start school earlier in the morning may be prone to more automobile accidents. Studies suggest that the students may not be so alert, since early school start times may promote sleep loss and daytime sleepiness. This was published in the Journal of Clincial Sleep Medicine, the study's lead author, Dr. Robert Vorona, said that starting high school laterin the morning might make young drivers more alert because they get more sleep. The study compared school start times and automobile crash rates for students aged 16 to 18 in Virginia Beach, where high school classes began between 7:20 a.m. and 7:25 a.m., to students at schools in Chesapeake, where classes started between 8:40 a.m. and 8:45 a.m. There were 65.8 autmobile crashes for every 1,000 teen drivers in Virginia Beach, and 46.6 crashes for every 1,000 teen drivers in Chesapeake. The comparisons were made in 2008, and were similar to the results in 2007. "We believe that high schools should take a close look at having later start times to align with circadian rhythms in teens and to allow for longer sleep times, " said Vorona who is an associate professor of internal medicine at Eastern Virgina Medical School. "Too many teens in this country obtain insufficient sleep. Increasingly, the literature suggests that this may lead to problematic consequences including mood disoders, academic difficulties and behavioural issues." Another study in the April edition of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine suggests that delaying schools start times by one hour could improve attention levels and performance, and reduce mistakes. The Israeli study of 14-year old, eighth-grade students found those teens who slept 55 minutes longer each night performed better on tests that require attention.
I am not suprised by this these studies or this article at all. Having the right amount of sleep is crucial and can definately affect your studies. It is best to have a minimum of 8 hours of sleep and if you don't get the proper amount, you will spend more time sleeping than studying or paying attention in class. In my opinion, it is hard enough to get up at 7:20 rather than being at school at 7:20. On top of homework the night before, and extra-curricular activities you may have, it is definately an early wake up time that may not always give you your eight hours of sleep. More importantly, if you don't get your sleep it is harder to stay awake and can result in you not staying awake in the important times, such as driving. Driving is one of the most crucial times you need all your energy and can result in the loss of other people's lives if you don't pay attention. If schools that start really early pushed their starting time even an hour later, it could save lives. For the safety of others, schools need to take it seriously.
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