Good news for middle and high school students. When it comes to sleeping a little longer, physicians are on your side. On Monday, the American Academy Pediatrics  announced its recommendation that middle and high schools start at 8:30 a.m.or later. "Doing so will match school schedules to the biological sleep patterns of adolescents," the AAP writes in a press release regarding its new policy statement called "School Start Times for Adolescents" . "Chronic  sleep loss in adolescents is one of the most common public health issues in the U.S.today," according to Judith Owens, director of Sleep Medicine at Children's National Health System. "The research is clear that adolescents who get enough sleep have a reduced risk of being overweight or suffering depression, are less likely to be involved in automobile accidents, and have better grades, higher standardized test scores and an overall better quality of life," Owens said in the press release. "Studies have shown that delaying early school start times is one key factor that can help adolescents get the sleep they need to grow and learn." Even before the AAP's announcement, school districts across the country have been rethinking start times. Earlier this year The New York Times wrote about Dos Santos, a student at Rock Bridge High School. When Dos Santos learned that school officials were considering starting school 30 minutes earlier than the existing time, she became worried.The student gathered others to her cause. In the end, school officials decided against the earlier start time. One of the organizations that Dos Santos reached out to for help was Start School Later, a nonprofit organization that focuses on getting public schools to set "healthy school hours." "It's going to take collective action, perhaps on a national scale, to get many districts to take on this issue," Terra Ziporyn Snider, PhD, director and co-founder of Start School Later, told Yahoo Health. "The science is clear, the will to change isn't," she explained. "The reason for that is that community life goes around school schedules, and any suggestion of change - earlier, later, whatever - brings powerful opposition from everyone who fears a change in routine." What can be learned about Start School Later?
Dr.Snider is director of this nonprofit organization. It is a commercial organization belonging to Yahoo Health. It helps private schools to set healthy schedules for students. It made a policy called. 'School Start Times for Adolescents".