Calif. students get extra shuteye

The circadian rhythms for young people are different than those of adults. I think it makes sense to base the school schedule on children's peak learning times, rather than adults' work schedule (if the goal is to optimize learning).? Matt Walker would agree: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwaWilO_Pig

My kids needed to be up by 5:30 am in order to catch the 6:15 am bus. Going to bed earlier meant less time doing homework, after school sports etc. It not as cut and dry as "put them to bed earlier". The later start time would have been much appreciated especially in middle school.

The science certainly supports it (there's a whole range of benefits for the kids).? The difference in start times across grades may complicate things, but I'm guessing one uniform start time might result in transport issues. To the extent the kids start school later, they should also finish later.? Hopefully, employers are flexible enough to allow parents to adjust their start and finish times accordingly, but some industries will find it easier to grant that flexibility than others.? It may take some time, but society will ultimately adjust. (As an aside, I grew up in the UK with a 9am start time for every grade.)

The focus here should be on the health and development of children.? It's a good move. Society needs the next generation well educated and sufficient sleep is a big piece of learning.? We can figure out how to accommodate some inconvenience.? I thought my kids high school schedules were brutal, given the start times, workloads and after school participation in clubs/sports.?

I believe this is great. Kids get to sleep in a little longer and be better rested for the day. Either way you look at it, starting later finishing later, starting earlier finishing earlier, the school day is always shorter than the business day. So drop offs and pick up will be an issue regardless. So making the most of it should be the perspective. Let kids sleep longer and if they get picked up closer to Mom and Dads finishing times means the kids are not hanging around quite so much. I think it’s a positive.

I would think the younger students in elementary and middle schools whose brains are still developing would need the extra sleep. What happens when these high schoolers get to college with early morning labs and then when they enter the ‘real world’ where, depending on one’s distance from the airport, one might have to wake up at 4:00 AM to catch a 6:00 AM flight?