Winter breaks have officially begun almost everywhere around the globe and it is hard to sight a teenager who is up before noon. After all, this is the only time when they can afford the luxury of proper sleep. A recent study has reported that high school students are getting much less sleep than required.
The fact is quite evident and various debates have sprung up on the matter. Evidence suggests that schools start earlier nowadays than they did a few decades ago.
Parents have reported about their children not getting enough sleep due to the early start timings of high schools. It was further added that when the weekend rolls in, the teenagers are physically drained, according to American Academy of Dental Medicine.
According to various researches and studies conducted by a group of renowned and leading organizations
who focus on health, clinical and sleep issues, all these opinions are very correct and the schools, indeed, start very early. Higher authorities and officials at these research centers believe after an in-depth study and experimentation the only solution is for a later school start time schedule.
However, the studies and findings cannot be considered very reliable since the teenagers involved in the studies went to different schools with different environments. It was also explained that due to the body clock and sleeping habits teenagers adopt during the weekdays, it is difficult to go to bed early on weekends too, according to Forbes.
The problem identified is not only the lack of sleep due to the early start times but the consequences of sleep deprivation in teenagers. Ranging from obesity to anxiety to poor academic performance to mental health concerns, compromising on sleep causes undeniably harmful issues, which in turn can bring about chronic and persistent sleep loss. Thus, the problem goes much deeper than the adolescents not being able to catch that extra hour of sleep.
