The petition
New Oceanside Middle School bell schedule: Start 7:05 AM, End 1:45 PM
We are writing to tell you how upset we are that middle schools are supposed to start so early in the 2007/2008 school year. For school to start at 7:05 AM, many students will need to awaken well before 6AM. Numerous studies have shown that young adolescents need more sleep and that their internal clocks are shifting their alertness to later in the day. While other districts are delaying their start times (Carlsbad – 8:15AM, Vista – 8:45AM) to accommodate the needs of young adolescents, it seems that Oceanside is trying to accommodate the needs of the parents or the Teachers. The link and excerpts below show multiple studies demonstrating the necessity for pre-teens and teens to have later school starts, not earlier.
http://www.stanford.edu/~demen... .
A second issue with the early start time is the subsequent early release time. Oceanside already has issues with gangs and unsupervised kids, and now the district is planning to release large numbers of pre-and early teen students even earlier from school. Please think of what will happen to the kids after school is over at 1:45 PM; when they have all afternoon to mess around. If the district offered constructive classes, like languages (Chinese or Spanish) or robotics after school there would be alternatives, but there are none. Instead of putting money into buses we should offer more opportunities for the kids to learn different things. Oceanside School District needs to realize that buses are not as critical as the health and safety of our kids or the quality of their education. Oceanside schools already suffer from low API scores, and forcing the kids to school earlier will result in poor performance and even lower scores.
Keeping the money from the buses would provide funds to offer languages or computer access for more kids, or possibly even more time in school instead of the strict minimum that the state required. As parents, we can arrange car pools and help each other so our kids don’t have to get up so early.
Sincerely,
Emmanuelle Cremonesi (a concerned mother)
If you agree with these concerns please add your name to the end of this list after the excerpts.
Excerpts of some studies:
How Does Sleep Deprivation Affect the Teen-ager?
Sleep deprivation can impair memory and inhibit creativity making it difficult for sleep deprived students to learn. Teens struggle to learn to deal with stress and control emotion -- sleep deprivation makes it even more difficult. Irritability, lack of self confidence and mood swings are often common in a teen, but sleep deprivation makes it worse. Depression can result from chronic sleep deprivation. Not enough sleep can endanger their immune system and make them more susceptible to serious illnesses.
In the Children's Hospital and Health System News Section
As children reach adolescence, their circadian rhythms, or internal clocks tend to shift, causing teens to naturally feel more alert later at night and wake up later in the morning. This can make it difficult for them to fall asleep before 11 p.m. More than one-half (54 percent) of high school seniors go to bed at 11 p.m. or later on school nights. However, the survey finds that adolescents wake up around 6:30 a.m. in order to go to school, leaving many without the sleep they need.
http://www.chw.org/display/PPF...
The report summarizes key research findings on teens, young adults and sleep.
The paper notes, for example, that adolescents aged 11 to 22 need nine to 10 hours of sleep each night. It also discusses the hormonal changes that conspire against them. When puberty hits, the body’s production of sleep-inducing melatonin is delayed, making an early bedtime biologically impossible for most teens. At the same time, the report notes, external forces such as after-school sports and jobs and early school start times put the squeeze on a full night’s sleep.
The result: A “profound negative effect” on mood, school performance and cognitive function.
Sleep deprivation may be undermining teen health
Lack of sufficient sleep--a rampant problem among teens--appears to put adolescents at risk for cognitive and emotional difficulties, poor school performance, accidents and psychopathology, research suggests.
BY SIRI CARPENTER
Monitor staff
http://www.apa.org/monitor/oct...
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