Do you think school start times are too early? Research shows that 75%-100% of schools in the US start school before 8:30 a.m.

On average, students are supposed to get 8-10 hours of sleep a night. However, students have to deal with sports, jobs, and other home-related activities that make going to bed on time hard.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended that middle/high schools should start at 8:30 a.m. to allow kids to get the proper amount of sleep they need.

When kids don’t get enough sleep, it often leads to becoming overweight, not 100 percent engaged in physical activity, experiencing symptoms of depression, engaging in unhealthy risk behaviors, and poor performance in school.  During the early stages of puberty, adolescents start to become tired later at night and sleep later in the mornings due to shifts in biological rhythms.

There is a major reason why students don’t get enough sleep. About 72% of kids between the ages of 6 and 17 have at least one electronic device in their bedroom. According to the National Sleep Foundation, “Kids who leave these devices on during the night sleep up to 1 hour less on average each night. Kids who leave electronics on at night average about 1 hour less of sleep then kids who sleep with no electronics.”

There are some steps parents can take to help their kids “unplug” at night.

• Establish a bed time routine
• Turn off electronics
• Gradually decrease screen-time
• Increase physical activity
• Ban electronic devices at mealtime
• Lead by example

Students who play sports are often the kids that have the worst sleep schedules.  Games are held on weekdays after school. Depending on the sport and how far away it is, kids could be arriving home after midnight. By the time they get home and get ready for bed, the thought of homework is not on their minds. They go straight to bed. They then have to wake up really early for school, and that often leads to students falling asleep in school. If students fall into a habit of sleeping in class, this can cause them to fall behind and obtain bad grades.

So do you think school start times are to blame? Go to bed early and unplug at night.