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Tenafly explores a delay of the current 7:55 a.m. school start, perhaps to as late as 8:30.
Districts nationwide (including New Jersey’s Tenafly district) are trying to come up with a solution how to give stressed out and tired high school teens a break. Many are considering the simple solution of letting tired teens start their school day s later.
In Tenafly, a committee of teachers, parents, students and trustees has begun exploring a delay of the current 7:55 a.m. start, perhaps to as late as 8:30.
Experts say that the onset of puberty causes teenagers to experience a change in the release of the sleep hormone melatonin, which helps regulate the body’s day-night rhythms. During adolescence, it is secreted later in the day and ramps up at night, which means teenagers don’t become drowsy until 11 p.m. And because of that cycle, moving bedtime earlier doesn’t help either, according to a report by the American Academy of Pediatrics……
Teenagers need at least 9½ hours of sleep nightly, but few get that, according to the National Sleep Foundation. Working against a full night’s sleep is the typical high school schedule, with a large load of homework, tests and after-hours activities, plus social events……
In Tenafly, Superintendent Lynn Trager notes the collateral issues: She touched on time conflicts for working parents and those with children in lower grades, the scheduling of extra-curricular activities, the impact on students with after-school jobs and even on time taken away from homework.
“We have a long way to go before we vote on this,” Trager said.
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