[ti:Early Classes = Sleepy Teens (Duh)] [ar:Bob Doughty] [al:Education Report] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]This is the VOA Special English [00:03.01]Education Report. [00:04.96]Surveys of American teenagers [00:07.39]find that about half of them [00:09.38]do not get enough sleep [00:10.88]on school nights. [00:12.73]They get an average of sixty [00:14.77]to ninety minutes less [00:17.01]than experts say they need. [00:19.10]One reason for this deficit [00:21.68]is biology. [00:23.54]Experts say teens [00:25.53]are biologically programmed [00:27.72]to go to sleep later [00:29.51]and wake up later than [00:31.76]other age groups. [00:33.39]Yet many schools start classes [00:36.48]as early as seven in the morning. [00:39.42]As a result, many students [00:42.71]go to class feeling like [00:44.66]sixteen-year-old Danny. [00:47.14]He plays two sports, [00:49.20]lacrosse and football. [00:51.58]He is an active teen [00:53.92]-- except in the morning. [00:55.57]DANNY: "Getting up in the morning [00:56.52]is pretty terrible. [00:57.81]I'm just very out of it [01:00.54]and tired. And then going [01:03.59]to school I'm out of it, [01:04.62]and through first [01:05.98]and second period [01:06.91]I can barely stay awake." [01:08.71]Michael Breus is a clinical [01:11.10]psychologist with a specialty [01:12.94]in sleep disorders. [01:14.50]MICHAEL BREUS: "These aren't [01:16.10]a bunch of lazy kids [01:17.35]-- although, you know, [01:18.05][01:18.09]teenagers can of course be lazy. [01:19.20]These are children [01:20.24]whose biological rhythms, [01:21.59]more times than not, are off." [01:22.98]Teens, he says, need to sleep [01:25.41]eight to nine hours [01:27.42]or even nine to ten hours a night. [01:30.35]He says sleepy teens can experience [01:33.50]a form of depression [01:35.13]that could have big effects [01:37.28]on their general well-being. [01:39.01]It can affect not just [01:41.51]their ability in the classroom [01:43.19]but also on the sports field [01:45.88]and on the road. [01:47.93]Michael Breus says [01:50.26]any tired driver is dangerous, [01:52.70]but especially a teenager [01:55.03]with a lack of experience. [01:57.08]So what can schools do [02:00.47]about sleepy students? [02:01.96]The psychologist says [02:04.05]one thing they can do [02:05.89]is start classes later [02:07.73]in the morning. [02:09.92]He points to studies showing [02:12.11]that students can improve [02:13.61]by a full letter grade [02:16.05]in their first- [02:17.29]and second-period classes. [02:19.42]Eric Peterson is the head [02:22.50]of St. George's School [02:23.96]in the northeastern state [02:26.25]of Rhode Island. [02:27.64]He wanted to see [02:29.29]if a thirty-minute delay [02:31.18]would make a difference. It did. [02:33.77]He says visits to the health center [02:37.26]by tired students decreased by half. [02:40.79]Late arrivals to first period [02:43.86]fell by a third. [02:45.81]And students reported that [02:48.50]they were less sleepy [02:49.84]during the day. [02:51.09]Eric Peterson knows [02:53.32]that changing start times [02:55.51]is easier at a small, [02:57.76]private boarding school like his. [02:59.75]But he is hopeful that [03:02.08]other schools will find a way. [03:04.27]ERIC PETERSON: "In the end, [03:05.26]schools ought to do what's [03:07.15]the right thing [03:08.01]for their students, [03:08.81]first and foremost." [03:09.90]Patricia Moss, an assistant dean [03:12.43]at St. George's School, says [03:14.78]students were not the only ones [03:16.71] reporting better results. [03:18.20]PATRICIA MOSS: "I can say that, [03:19.60]anecdotally, virtually all the teachers [03:22.74]noticed immediately much more [03:26.03]alertness in class, [03:27.38]definitely more positive mood. [03:29.97]Kids were happier to be there [03:31.80]at eight-thirty than [03:33.65]they were at eight." [03:34.84]And that's the VOA Special English [03:37.73]Education Report. [03:39.06]You can read, listen and comment [03:42.31]on our programs at 51voa.com. [03:47.48]We're also on Facebook and Twitter [03:50.47]at VOA Learning English. [03:54.02]I'm Bob Doughty.