The traditional school timetable harms children’s performance: an innovative study led byUniversity of Zurich (Swiss) has shown that starting school later, or in any case in a flexible way, favors better grades and a better approach to school in general.
The biological clock of adolescents and the impact on academic performance
In fact, adolescents chronically suffer from sleep deprivation during school days, which negatively affects their well-being and ability to learn. Starting lessons very early is in stark contrast to the sleep biology of adolescents, which is geared towards falling asleep late. And this has serious repercussions on their learning.
High school students often have difficulty going to bed early, but not due to “bad habits” or bad habits: it is their circadian cycle that asks them to sleep later: this then makes it difficult to start school early in the morning.
In fact, the biological clock shifts progressively later during adolescence, and therefore most adolescents do not sleep enough during school days, with sleep deficits that increase as the week goes by.
This is worrying – explains Oskar Jenni, who led the research – as chronic sleep deprivation not only affects well-being, but also has a measurable impact on mental health, physical development and learning ability
According to the researcher, a developmental pediatrician, sleep biology in adolescents prevents them from falling asleep early enough to meet their sleep needs, so starting school later in the morning could have significant positive effects.
Previous studies have already indicated the possible benefits of a later school start, but there is currently a lack of research on flexible models that allow students to choose between an early and late start.
The effects of flexible school hours
The innovative research conducted by the University and the Children’s Hospital of Zurich now provides scientific support for school timetables better suited to the needs of adolescents. The pilot study started three years ago, when the upper secondary school of Gossauin the north-eastern canton of St. Gallenintroduced flexible school hours.
Since then, students have had the opportunity to attend modules before the start of regular lessons in the morning, midday and afternoon. This means students can decide when to start their school day: they can arrive at 7.30am or wait until 8.30am, when classes officially begin.
Using this model, researchers examined adolescents’ sleep patterns and the impact of sleep deprivation on their health and academic performance. Afterwards, the students, with an average age of 14, were interviewed once with the old school model, starting at 7:20, and a second time a year later with the new model. The research team evaluated 754 responses in total.
The results proved to be unequivocal: 95% of students took advantage of the possibility of starting school later, on average 38 minutes later than in the old system, getting up 40 minutes later in the morning. And, as they continued to go to bed at about the same time, their total amount of sleep increased: On school days, students slept an average of 45 minutes longer.
There were other benefits too.
The students reported fewer problems falling asleep and their health-related quality of life improved – says Joëlle Albrecht, first author of the work – With the new model, the objective learning results in English and mathematics improved compared to the results of the cantonal tests
Research therefore demonstrates that flexible school start times can be an effective and practical approach to reducing chronic sleep deprivation and improving the mental health and academic performance of adolescents.
Starting classes later in the morning can therefore significantly contribute to addressing the current mental health crisis among students
he adds Reto Huberco-author of the work.
The study was published in Journal of Adolescent Health.
Sources: University of Zurich / Journal of Adolescent Health
