WALKER: Asking a teenager to be awake and trying to absorb information at 8:30 in the morning, you know, in some ways is like asking an adult to wake up at, you know, 4 o'clock in the morning with good grace, good humor, positive mood and start learning information efficiently at 4:30 in the morning without caffeine. They just need more sleep than do adults. SIMON: Professor Walker says there's nothing wrong with a teenager experiencing this. And I'm really happy now that it was pushed back. JUSTYN SEARS: I was way more tired, and I even remember me sometimes falling asleep or having to wake myself up during my first period. Justyn Sears is a freshman at Van Nuys High School and says he usually goes to bed by 10 p.m. But even for those who go to bed on time, early morning hours can be rough.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that teens get eight to 10 hours of sleep every night. Professor Walker says studies in places that push their school start times by at least an hour have shown a big reduction in teen car crashes up to 70%. Later start times can not only make better students but save lives. SIMON: In 2020, the average start time for public high schools in the U.S. WALKER: Academic grades increase, truancy rates decrease, behavioral and psychological problems decrease. He sounds well-rested and says the benefits of letting teens snooze a little longer are clear. SIMON: That's Matthew Walker, a professor of neuroscience at the University of California, Berkeley. So why are we putting them in the classroom? MATTHEW WALKER: It really is in those first early morning hours that children are just essentially half asleep. SIMON: Feeling sleepy during first period? It's just science. And I remember it being really hard to just focus because of the lack of sleep that I got the night before. RA'ED AHMED: This past year, I was taking Algebra 2, and it was my first period. And the news is welcome to Ra'ed Ahmed, a senior at Oakland Technical High School. for middle schools and 8:30 for high schools.
A law went into effect this month that says schools should begin no earlier than 8 a.m. Just ask shift workers, like the folks who work on this program, or teenagers and the people who have to wake them up for classes that can begin at 7:30 in the morning.
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