Thank you Liz for stating the real issue that parents need to have a more authoritative role in their child's life and sleep schedules. Thanks for being a great voice on this issue.

Ma'am. You are only the mother of a child in the second grade. I am a high schooler. It is more than just 'going to bed earlier' Research shows that due to a teenagers change in their Circadian Cycle the time their body tells them to go to bed is roughly 11-12 pm. With school starting at 720 that give's kids six and a half hours of sleep. That's not including marching band, which starts usually one hour earlier. So that's five and a half hours of sleep. I'm sorry but, the academic achievement in the lower grades don't give scholarships, the academics in high school do. Also there is research on the younger ages. Research shows that if elementary kids went to bed at 8-9pm and got up at 6, that is 9-10 hours of sleep. The parent could be more responsible for what time their elementary child goes to bed at. There are more pro's than con's of the time change. Also, schools get money based off of academic scores, so if scores go up, then the district gets more money.

It would appear Ms. Henderson theorizes parents are responsible for at least a decade’s worth of “epidemic” levels of adolescent sleep deprivation. University of Chicago scientists, like every scientist to weigh in on this issue, see it differently: “Our study does confirm that on school days adolescents are obtaining less sleep then they are thought to need, and the factor with the biggest impact is school start times. If sleep loss is associated with impaired learning and health, then these data point to computer use, social activities and especially school start times as the most obvious intervention points.”

Adolescent phase delay is biologically predetermined. According to Professor Mark Mahowald, “We’re sending them to school during the last one-third of their sleep cycles. It’s comparable to adults getting up at 3 a.m. or 4 a.m. … I think it’s nuts. The sleep deficit builds up until they fall asleep at school or driving.” The citations supporting these comments can be found at this site – http://schoolstarttime.org/

Where are Ms. Henderson’s citations?

With all the sleep research and the damning health, safety and equity evidence regarding having a child set out in the equivalent of 2:30am in the morning in the dark, is this really a matter of the parent not taking responsibility?

Is it OK to let schools tell me that I have to have my child out in the dark, cold when no one else in their right mind would start work at that time if they had a choice, or stand outside in the cold?

Is it OK to let school dictate sports events that end at 10pm and yet still require that my child be up 7 hours later to go to school?

Is it OK to just hope and pray that my kid doesn't get hit by the driver that can't see them in the dark, especially because that young driver is sleep deprived, too?

Is it the parent's responsibility to ensure that our children suck it up in the real world with only 6-7 hours of sleep when they really need 8-10 hours of sleep?

Liz is correct, parents need to have more of an authoritative role in the setting of schedules for their children. This is exactly why I signed a petition making sure that the sleep needs of my children and others will no longer be ignored. Teens and toddlers need the same amount of sleep. Let's design a school schedule that lets them both get the sleep they need to succeed.

Maribel Ibrahim
www.StartSchoolLater.net

We're all doing our best. Good parents think all kinds of different things about this. Sadly, it seems we'll either have to go with the science or admit we don't care enough to understand it.

Once again a sample of one is used as crack science. The credible, valid and consistent scientific research and observational data indicates that interrupting natural sleep rythms is not recommended. Adolescents have unique sleep rythms. Therefore adolescents should not be forced daily to rise without actually awakening.
Not everyone proposing later start times is a parent of adolescents; many proponents are researchers and scientists.

Activism based on science is far more sound than activism based on emotion.

Thank you, Ms. Henderson for your thoughtful efforts to advocate that Barrington stay with success as to school start times.

Cherry-picked anecdotal generalities cannot make up for the lack of actual “scientific” evidence to support any benefits related to later school start times.
The few who are in favor of changing the start times have not yet quite convinced the rest of us to abandon verifiable success.

See comments from recent “Patch” article on the same topic:
http://barrington.patch.com/articles/make-recreation-director-full-time

The questions/facts in those comments have yet to be scientifically addressed by the few who are in favor of changing the start times of the Barrington schools.

“Studies” showing that teens have natural, “scientific” sleep schedules? There are probably studies showing that some teenagers would rather not do homework, some don’t want to pick up after themselves at home yet they might look like a different kid once they get a job for money, and some would prefer to eat junk food all the time if we let them. There’s a few other things that teenagers would love to do all the time if we let them. But we won’t get into that. And there’s good reason to ignore most of that “science”, too.

Benjamin Franklin was, among other things, a brilliant and accomplished statesman, inventor, and scientist. He would be as great a success today as well.

“Early to bed, early to rise” is still good advice.

With all due respect Ms Henderson is ignoring a lot of scientific evidence which states that teens have a different Circadian rhythm than younger children and adults. Teens, especially high school aged teens, are not ready to go to bed until 10 or later. They then have to get up by 6, if not earlier for school, which leaves them a max of 8 hours of sleep when they need at least 9. Younger children are often awake naturally by 6 am and can be "made" to go to bed by 7 so they get the 10-11 hours of sleep they need. This isn't really a parenting issue -- I hate to say it, but I think you will understand better when you have a teenager. I am beginning to see this change with my 12 year old 6th grader. She's isn't sleepy until 9 which is bedtime -- if she goes to bed earlier she can't fall asleep, she is always tired when she has to get up for school at 6. She is getting a max of 9 hours which is okay for now but she doesn't have that many after school activities or homework, so her day is over by 8-9, and yes, she has down time before bed. I do agree that our High Schoolers may be doing to much, that was evident to me at the forum, but they are caught in our societal cycle of overachievement to get into college -- that's another issue all together.

With all due respect, there is an important missing "scientific" link:

There is not sufficient “science” to relate the changing of school start times to success in the school district.

And see previous comments as to the other specific "scientific" facts that the late-start advocates have failed to provide.

So, will your boss be OK with you showing up for work later because you have a teenager who needs to sleep in?
Obviously the parents who support such a change either don't work (because they don't need the second income) or enjoy the luxury of setting their own schedule. This is not the case for the majority of parents in the real world (outside the elitist enclave of Barrington). Will these parents be following their children to college (because we know THEIR children will be going to college) to petition for no morning classes so Brianna & Trip can get their much-needed beauty sleep? Will Briana & Trip's first bosses also be expected to accommodate their whims?
If your teenagers are "doing too much," stop driving them to activities & start teaching them some basic responsibility.
Lesson One: Time for bed.

This is ridiculous. If these kids are tired in the morning let them go to bed earlier! Why do we have to coddle these young adults. Life does not work this way. When they get jobs and/or go to college do you think times will change to suit them? This is the problem with kids today, they have no grasp of reality, everything is about them, they are self-centered and spoiled.

College classes don't start until after 8 am because people can't think before 8 am?
Uh oh. We have doctors & nurses & EMTs & Firefighters & Police officers on the night shifts who have to think at all hours of the early morning.

Ask homeowners who live near college campuses if it's the "science" that's keeping those college kids from getting up early in the morning. LOL. Yeah. They're up late at science parties. That's it. And maybe they're all chemists.

Now, all you late-start advocates go wake up your kids and have them put on their best sweat suits ("science" shows that it is so unnatural to be uncomfortable here in the USA) - it's a school day, after all and you've got high expectations for those kids.

DC, no it doesn't have to do with me. My daughter is in first grade at Primrose and she is being raised to deal with life as it comes and you conform to the world, the world doesn't conform to you. Bottom line if the kids need more sleep do to bed earlier. And I stand by my statement that when these kids get jobs and the hours aren't convenient for them will expect the hours to change. Listed life can be hard and inconvenient sometimes, suck it up and deal with it. Listen Barrington has the best school system in the state and test scores are great so kids in the past have dealt with it and done fine. Stop babying these kids.

Sorry for the errors but I'm on a cell phone

MW, Very disturbing research shows that doctors, nurses, EMT's, firefighters and police officers all make more errors during the wee hours of the morning. They are awake and working not because they want to be, but because we need someone to be performing these critical jobs at that hour. There's something called "sleep inertia" that causes significant impairment of motor function and decision-making for the first hour or so after waking as well. So while I'm grateful those folks are out there, I'll still have my well-rested surgeon operate after 9 am and not at 5 am if I have a choice, thank you very much.

I think we're not as far apart as we think. As one of the thought leaders in this area has pointed out, we're not talking about night school. We're talking about making a relatively small adjustment that has the potential for huge impact -- maybe the smartest way we can spend educational dollars to increase student performance.

We all want our children to get to bed at a reasonable hour, avoid nonstop electronic use, and get up in the morning to go study hard. But we also need a healthy population and results that count. That's why I support this change.

Ok I'll say it again.....GO TO BED EARLIER!!!!! What you are saying is silly. If I go to bed late I come to work tired and don't get much done. BUT a strange phenominon takes place when I go to bed early and get a good night's sleep!!!! This whole thing is stupid. We are raising a society of lazy asses who Think the world revolves around them.

Tend to agree with "me" om this. as 87million baby boomers retiring over the next 10 years, seem to refute this science, I wounld think, when you take into consideration the accomplishments of those 87 million, which have literly moved civilation advancement quantum leap, has aslo disproved the science.

Then there is the "geatest Generation" to consider. In the real word as some have said, you do what you have to do to get up and do your job, i you do not teach responsibilty at a young age, you are setting your child up for a lot of problems in the real world.

We all know the vast majority of College kids burn the candle at both ends and allways have, no matter what time their classes are, yet they still produce quality work.

Noting agaist science, other than the fact, a lot of these studies turn out to be agenda driven, or biased, and latter disproven. I am sure there are other studies that disagree somewhere out there wth this one. Also it does not explain why it is happening now, when many of us worked in the old days and got little sleep at all, not to mention working right after school, yes even at age 10 for many, depending on where you grew up.

Back then many did not et an allowance, your parents told you to go out and earn it, if you wanted something special. So you get responsible at an early age and acually learned the real world is not a nanny state. At least thats how I remember it and my kids learned it the same way, and did just fine.

DC, funny you should say that, as I did not want too. However myself and mu brothers did walk from The point in newport, to rogers high high out by the ocean drive, a couple of miles to be sure. Could ot afford the bus most of the time or decided to save the money for other things. Yes shoes once a year also lol. the both ways is allways been a joke though.

I stand by my comment though as they are facts, on the past, and million and million of subjects are a better study over lets say 70 or so years, then this study. Thats hw I see it anyway. When I see things like this, it usally ends up n the state how to mandate across the state, and that is my worry on the nanny state thing also ;-}.

DC, what??? What does this have to do with a car seat. Firstly, its the law and secondly I don't want my daughter flying through the windshield on impact. And no, I am in no way all about natural consequences. All I am saying is IF YOU ARE TIRED IN THE MORNING GO TO BED EARLIER!!!!! All this nonsense about science and statistics is stupid. So how about this, I'm going to tell my boss the company should open an hour later because science says I need more sleep. Every keeps saying these kids are to tired to learn. OK, but what about the past graduating classes, they did it. Its this enabling philosophy I cant stand.

When I was their age, we walked 10 miles to school, uphill both ways, backwards! And we liked it! :-) Seriously though, here’s the science:
* Delaying School Starting Time by One Hour: Some Effects on Attention Levels in Adolescents, Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, Vol. 7 (2011)
* Impact of Delaying School Start Time on Adolescent Sleep, Mood & Behavior, Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, Vol. 164 (2010)
* Impact of School Daily Schedule on Adolescent Sleep, Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Vol. 115 (2005)
* Middle School Start Times: The Importance of a Good Night's Sleep for Young Adolescents, Behavioral Sleep Medicine, Vol. 5 (2007)
* Adolescent Sleep, School Start Times & Teen Motor Vehicle Crashes, Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, Vol. 4 (2008)
* Sleep Schedules & Daytime Functioning in Adolescents, Journal of Child Development, Vol. 69 (1998)
* Influence of Sleep Quality, Sleep Duration & Sleepiness on School Performance in Children & Adolescents, Sleep Medicine Reviews, Vol. 14, pp 179-189 (2010), (reviewing 16 studies with sample sizes of up to 3,900 & ages as young as 8)
* Understanding Adolescents' Sleep Patterns & School Performance, Sleep Medicine Reviews, Vol. 7 (2003) (reviewing 14 studies with sample sizes of up to 18,000 & as young as 8)

(In case it wasn't clear, all those studies support later school start times.)

higher school rankings in town = more justification for the already ridiculously high tax rate.

Do any of those studies say what happens if you go to bed earlier and get more sleep? You all want to quote these articles and books but none of you will address just getting to bed so you can focus at school.

Do any of those studies say what happens if you go to bed earlier and get more sleep? You all want to quote these articles and books but none of you will address just getting to bed so you can focus at school.

DC. Another thought on this, is the fact that a teacher in their first class tells the students that homework is due the next day, and that there will be a quiz or test on that howework after it is turned in.

No study, no change in hours will change a student from having the self responsibily I believe it is called ;-}, from being prepared for that test and be bright eyed and bushy tailed for that test. It still starts at home, no matter what the hours are or the studies say, bottom line is it is the students responsibilty, and parents to teach that at home from an early age. If they do not, then nothing will change.

This is the problem with these studies, they never tell the real truth of the root cause of the problem, they are talking about. Which obviously, is not that they do not get enough sleep, but that they have to have the pride, integrity and willpower to accomplish the task put before them. That is what the Founders and most religions meant by FREEWILL l (you are responsible for yor own actions).

There is no way to change with the fact that humans genetic's are diverse and cannot be taught to all be the same or to perform exactly alike. Many a tolitarian society has tried and failed at it as history has shown.

Enviroment, experience and peers or mentors, determine work ethic, not sleep, food, or government mandates. Children are uniques as are their learning curves. just saying ;-}

Bruce,
The arguments support sleep deprivation is detrimental to everyone- in this case, especially in teens. However with your argument in mind, explain the dependence of ADULTS on Tylenol PM, Ambien and the like. People KNOW they need sleep. Teens know it too, which is why they do DO NOT wake naturally at 5:45 am. to catch the 6:30 bus.
Is it possible you like the feeling of "hazing" the pledges because the actives went through it? Is that the framework and the limits of your logic?

DC no offense but I think you are more impressed with all your quotes than I am. If these studies are true how do you explain how the generations of kids who have been doing well up until now? All of a sudden because some people decide their kids are groggy in the morning the whole town's school structure has to change. Anyone can do a study about anything to get the results to support anything. You want to live life by studies but I choose to live in reality.

Quoting me: "Anyone can do a study about anything to get the results to support anything."

"You want to live life by studies but I choose to live in reality."

I rest my case.

Wah, wah, the nanny state. You sound like adolescents: "you're not the boss of me!" Grow up. This isn't the government telling you or anyone what to do; it's the gov't running an operation, to provide us with a service, and US telling THEM how we want them to do it.

Actually, it IS the gov't telling us what to do: telling us our kids have to be there at a time that's been found over and over to be unhealthy, and if we don't like it, tough ****. You ought to be angry about *that*.

DC and Mr. Smith, I really appreciate your continued appeals to reason. There are lots and lots of things that we don't do the way our grandparents did them-- I buckle my seat belt, for example. I take antibiotics for bad infections rather than get blood poisoning. And paint doesn't have lead in it, even though it did for a couple of thousand years.

Going back to Ben Franklin, we've been a society that adopts change when it's proven to make sense. And having school start at 8 am or later has been proven to make sense.

The HS starts at 7:40. If the powers that be go through all of this disruption to push the time back a mere 20 minutes, that would be beyond ignorant and a complete waste of time. If they do it, anything less than an hour is a complete waste of time as far as I am concerned.

Is sleep indexed to light and dark? Is sleep indexed to the time of day? Give me a break. How do Swedes and Norwegians do it? How do the Chinese and Japanese do it? Only in America do we need an excuse to sleep in. In America we don't eat well. We don't exercise. We're mostly obese. We sit with our fat faces watching Cable TV, Facebook, our iPhones, Wii, PS3. Our brains are over stimulated. It's no wonder we have trouble sleeping. This is just one more big excuse to let teens get what they want. Oh I can't get up that early. Boo hoo. I bet if there was a Beyonce concert at 8 in the morning they'd get up. Or the promise of a new car! This is the educated elite telling us what we need. Tell this theory to a farmer or baker and they'll laugh you out of town! Just another excuse helping to lead our precious young to a lifetime of government handouts!

I love u Bruce!!! Lol from someone who works for the welfare system you hit the nail on the head.

Ask the kids - mother of two high schoolers here - they don't want later start times. One does athletics, the other does other after-school events - they'd be in bed even later with later school start.