Sleep patterns change during adolescence. Most teens tend to stay up later at night, whether socializing or doing homework, and sleep later in the morning. Brown University psychology professor Mary Carskadon has been studying the effect of early morning schedules on teens since the early 1980’s. Carskadon says that this change in sleep patterns is not a choice, but rather a biological need. Older teens get a nightly squirt of the hormone melatonin (which induces sleepiness) about an hour later than younger adolescents do. This not only causes the teens to stay up later, it affects their sleep cycle the following morning. They’re often tired when they get up. How Much Sleep Do Teens Need?
Sleep Solutions Sleep experts favor a school day that begins at 9:30 or 10 for teens. And researchers at Johns Hopkins University have found that teens who start a bit later may get better grades. But is this research having any effect on school districts? In Minnesota, some school districts are experimenting with school starting times. Kyla Walhstrom, associate director of the Center for Applied Research in Educational Improvement at the University of Minnesota, has studied the logistics of a schedule shift. “Teachers are saying, ‘This is a remarkable change. The attention that is being paid in my first-hour class is so vast, I can’t get over the difference that one hour of sleep makes.’”
