Teenage Sleep Info and School Start Time Resources

I often get requests from students and educators interested in learning more about the start time issue. Here is my continually updated teen sleep info including articles and resources for anyone interested in teenage sleep and school start times. Here's the talk I give to parents, kids, and school boards when asked to speak on this topic:

Start here for school start time resources

• "School Start Times for Adolescents", by the Adolescent Sleep Working Group and Committee on Adolescence, and Council School Health on school start times has a great summary of the evidence, as well as their call for later school start times.
• Here's another article from the same group: "Insufficient Sleep in Adolescents and Young Adults: An Update on Causes and Consequences" by Judith Owens.
• Here's another very detailed work commissioned by the Fairfax School District: Change School Start Time Report Fairfax.
• Here's the policy statement from the CDC on school start times.
• Here's the Start School Later "Myths and Misconceptions" page, which I borrowed liberally from.
• Here's a great terrific toolkit from the Race to Nowhere team, it provides a playbook for students, parents, administrators and community leaders (like yourselves) on how to change start times.

Information on Sleep in Teenagers

• The paper by Vorona et al looking at the relationship between school start times and car accidents shows that early school start times are associated with a higher risk of car accidents.
• The CDC paper showing that 90% of teens are sleep deprived by CE Basch from 2014.
• The 2012 Schools and Staffing Survey data showing that Guilford starts earlier than 90% of schools in the US
• Here is an article linking to data showing that later school start times do not result in teens staying up later.
• A nice summary of evidence that time outside camping can rapidly reset the body clock of teenagers, provided that no devices are used.

Here are my most popular articles Teen Sleep and Start Times

• Start time changes happen slowly, so what can you do now? Here are eight sleep tips you haven't heard before.
• The combination of multiple extracurriculars, excessive homework, and early start times makes it almost impossible for teenagers to get enough sleep.
• Here are some articles explaining the two factors that govern when you sleep and when you wake: the homeostatic sleep drive (the need for sleep which increases as you stay up later) , and the body clock / circadian wakefulness drive.  This latter factor is what shifts later in adolescence, even as school gets earlier.
• Why should kids need to choose between homework and sleep? It seems crazy, even when it's not even clear that homework helps kids learn.
• Not to get on my high horse, but here are 28 rules for better sleep, as well as my manifesto on the importance of good sleep.

Originally published May 2020. Last reviewed/updated by Dr. Craig Canapari, MD in May 2020