Sleep Education
What is sleep education?
Sleep education would entail devoting one week of the year's health curriculum to the significance of sleep. When students are sleep deprived, they do not function to their full potential, and a solution is now as simple as an inexpensive presentation. In fact, junior health already does this, so completing it every year would represent the importance of a healthy sleep schedule. Students are also inclined to embrace this idea because they are personally impacted by the problem. A mandatory educational conference when teachers discuss how much homework should be assigned to students in each class would be an extension of this. This, too, would ensure that students go to bed at a respectable hour.
Common Concerns
-
Parents feel that school time is being wasted
-
Not an effective use of time and not fully addressing the problem
-
-
The curriculum would have to be state-approved, causing it to take a longer time to implement
-
Students, regardless of the knowledge gained, would still choose to sleep less for potentially better grades
-
Curriculum, if not created effectively, could bore students and cause them to not retain any information
Push back school start time
Why Push School Start Time?
Many high school students complain about the harrowing effects that lacking sleep has on them and their overall performance in school, after-school activities, sports, and at home. A recent study was conducted on 280 students in a suburban high school in Philadelphia with a start time of 7:30 and an ending time of 2:25 p.m. The study found that 78% of students found it difficult to get up in the morning. Only 16% felt that they got enough sleep. With a schedule so similar to Ridge, what’s to say that the results wouldn’t compare to our students? Ridge High School students could get up to almost a full hour extra of sleep if the start time was pushed back, and this would also comply with the recommended start time for high schools from the American Academy of Pediatrics which is no earlier than 8:30 a.m.
Common Concerns
-
Disrupting already-set family schedules and routines
-
Some parents are concerned that later start times will make getting to work more difficult.
-
Increased bus costs—moving start times can disrupt the balance between elementary, middle, and high school transportation schedules.
-
Some of the alternatives will have little or no fiscal impact, while others will cost between $2.6 million and $5.85 million per year.
-
-
Difficulty with extracurricular activities and getting to school if a working parent drives the student
-
There is no guarantee that high schoolers will truly go to bed earlier
Half Days Every Two Weeks
Why add more half days?
Implementing half days every two weeks, allowing students to break from academic pressures and focus on other activities important to them. The half days would not cause major changes to our current education system and would improve academic performance, and student well-being. It provides an opportunity for students to engage in self-care, exercise, socialize, and pursue hobbies and extracurriculars. To smoothly implement this solution, a proposal outlining its benefits and challenges and a plan for implementation, involving input from multiple stakeholders, would be necessary. Once approved, schedule changes, communication with parents and students, transportation service, and extracurricular activities would need to be discussed and considered. Staff training may also be required, and the effectiveness of the solution would need to be monitored through surveys, focus groups, and data collection.
What are some concerns?
-
Parents may feel that kids would be unproductive
-
This would result in shorter breaks and shorter summers
-
This could potentially cause more homework due to less instructional time
-
Could cause lower test scores (SAT, ACT, NJSLA, AP, etc.)
-
-
Changing bus schedules to fit this solution would be costly
-
Students may skip school more frequently
-
It will be impossible for children to participate and still find time to study, finish completing coursework, indulge in extracurricular activities, and go to bed at a suitable time.
-
Disruptions in the routine lead to anxiety, stress, and unhealthy coping mechanisms
-