Introduction
It has been well established through numerous scientific studies that sleep is important for the development of the brain, proper functioning of the memory and development of cognitive skills especially among children and teenagers. Only a small fraction of adolescents sleep for the recommended eight hours or more. Sleep loss among adolescents and young adults might be attributed to some of the following events: playing games on electronic gadgets such as computers, phones and tablets; watching television and interacting with friends on social media sites. This essay shall review biological reasons for and against this recommendation.
Biological reasons for a late start of the school timetable
It has been found that during adolescence, the biological sleep patterns undergo changes. Rising up early in the morning during adolescence has been associated with disruption of a critical phase of sleep; the rapid eye movement (REM). Research has demonstrated that this phase of sleep is associated with proper memory functioning, proper emotional and cognitive functioning. The early rising of adolescence on a daily basis disrupts this phase which in turn is associated with symptoms of irritability and moodiness among adolescents. Further evidence has been provided by a study that showed that disruption of REM affects the assimilation of particular mental skills. During the study, it was found that individuals who had been allowed to enjoy REM sleep could recall what they had been taught earlier after sleeping but those who had been deprived of REM sleep had no recollection of what they had learnt. Given that most classes commence between 7am and 8am, most adolescents are deprived of REM sleep. Experts have found that deprivation of as little as one hour of REM sleep is equal to the deprivation of two years of maturation and development of cognitive skills.
The restriction or reduction of the hours of sleep is associated with long term memory skills, consolidation of memory and retrieval of what has been learnt from memory. Given that teenagers are required to install new memories on a daily basis at school, it is critical for them to have enough sleep. This is further supported by a metanalytic study of 61 studies which concluded that sleepiness and lack of adequate sleep were responsible for the poor performance among students aged between 8 and 18 years. A study conducted earlier on in 2007 in which the performance and attendance of students who start their schedule at 7.15am and 8.37am respectively demonstrated that those who reported to school later posted better grades and had better attendance patterns as compared to those who reported later. The restriction of sleep is also linked to increased cognitive risks during operation of cars or even machinery. A delay of the start of school in Lexington, Kentucky by an hour resulted in a 16.5% reduction of motor accidents caused by teens. A 2011 study also found that the crash rates were 41% higher in Virginia Beach in Virginia where the school schedule commences between 7 am and 7.25 am unlike in the neighboring Chesapeake, Virginia.
In spite of the wealth of evidence that supports later start times for the school schedule, there are also valid arguments that have been advanced against the proposal. To begin with, it is well known that biological rhythms are subject to adaptations to a given set of conditions. The early start times of the school calendar could be a cause for the sleep cycles of the adolescents to adopt in order to keep up with the reduced sleep hours. There is little evidence that enumerates the benefits of such adaptation hence the necessity for more research work in this subject matter. In conclusion, it is important for schools to review their school schedules in light of the research that is currently available on sleep deprivation and its consequences on the cognitive and physical development of students.
Works Cited
Graham. "Sleep Needs, Patterns and Difficulties of Adolescents: Summary of a Workshop ." National Academic Press (2000): 14-16.
Kirby and Maggi & D’Angiulli. "School Start Times and the Sleep–Wake Cycle of Adolescents: A Review and Critical Evaluation of Available Evidence." Educational Researcher (2011): 56-61.
Lufi and Tzischinsky & Hadar. "Delaying School Starting Time by One Hour: Some Effects on Attention Levels in Adolescents." Clinical Sleep Med. (2011): 137-143.
Vorona, et al. "Dissimilar Teen Crash Rates in Two Neighboring Southeastern Virginia Cities with Different High School Start Times." Clinical Sleep Med. (2011): 145-151.
