Recently, a Facebook post went viral with the caption, “A UK high school changed its start time from 8:50am to 10am. After the change, the student sick leave dropped by more than half, and grades improved.”
Almost a similar post on Instagram also went viral with the caption that “A high school changed its start time from 8:50am to 10am, which made student absences fall by 50%.”
The posts drew mixed reactions online, but research speaks for the claim.
Research Behind It
While many studies have shown the benefits of later school starts, including better student attendance, higher test scores, and improved sleep duration, few have used starting times later from 8:50 am to 10 am. And they saw the dramatic changes in the result.
A four-year observational study of 13-16-year-old students, on an English high school has revealed remarkable benefits. When classes begin at 10 a.m. instead of the traditional early morning start, it provides changes to teenage biology, which can dramatically improve student health and academic performance.
What does science say?
As scientific research has been conducted on the biological changes of teenagers, it reveals the mismatch between the teenagers’ biological changes and school schedules.
The study identified that in teenage age, most of them need 8-10 hours of sleep until early adulthood. But if school starts early, they are deprived of proper sleep, which causes illness and other physical problems for them.
How does it impact academic performance?
According to another study, academic performance also improved with the shifting of the school time. Students started to show their progress on classwork, assignments, and overall on their results. They started to earn higher grades on their exams.
Online Community Responds
As the post went viral after the research studies, people started to give their opinion in a good way for this good initiative. Some of them showed their thoughts on how teenagers’ health functions and welcomed the initiative.
While some others also showed their concerns for Asian and African teenagers who have to join the school by 7.00 am.
But most of the people were appreciating this initiative and shared their experiences and opinions in a very positive way.
However, the overwhelming responses of the online community show how important it is to balance teenage health with the educational system. As the research on shifting school time went viral, many parents, teachers and students shared their personal experiences and thoughts on it.
More from Wake Up Singapore:
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