An Oxford scientist called for school and work times to start early, saying that "sleep deprivation is a torture."
BBC news reports Dr. Paul Kelley of Oxford University is currently preparing for a major study to test the idea that starting school at 10:00 a.m. would present huge benefits for students.
The project, which will be called "Teensleep," is recruiting 100 schools from around the UK. It will commence in 2016 and will run through 2017. Results will be expected in 2018.
Dr. Kelley, a sleep expert, argued at the British Science Festival that for most of our lives, there is a mismatch in the body clock and the typical working day. He said that people between the ages 10 to 55 are not well suited to waking up early.
"Most people wake up to alarms, because they don't naturally wake up at the time when they have to get up and go to work," Kelley said. "So we've got a sleep deprived society—it's just that this age group, say 14-24 in particular, is more deprived than any other sector."
Dr. Kelley and his colleagues, which include Oxford sleep researcher Prof Russell Foster, argued that to better match the body clock of adolescents and young adults, school days should start at 10:00 a.m., and universities at 11:00 a.m.
"All the evidence points to the same thing," Dr. Kelley told BBC News. "There are no negative outcomes for moving [the school day] later, no positive outcomes for moving earlier."
The National Post reports that Dr. Kelley, formerly a head teacher in Tyneside, saw a 19-percent rise in the top grades of students when he changed the school start time from 8:30 to 10:00 a.m.
The news outlet further reports that the sleep expert argued that work time be moved as well.
"This is a huge society issue," Dr. Kelley explained. "Staff should start at 10 a.m. You don't get back to (the 9 a.m.) starting point until 55.
"Staff are usually sleep deprived. We've got a sleep-deprived society," he addED. "It is hugely damaging on the body's systems because you are affecting physical emotional and performance systems in the body."
Dr. Kelley explained that the body is attuned to sunlight and it is not possible to change its 24-hour cycle in order to wake up at a particular time. As such, this affects more than just students and workers.
"This applies in the bigger picture to prisons and hospitals," he said. "They wake up people and give people food they don't want. You're more biddable because you're totally out of it."
"Sleep deprivation is a torture," said Dr. Kelley.
