New study: Parents split over delayed school day

• Half of parents support starting school after 8%3A30 a.m.
• Science says it%27s good for teen health.
• But shifting start times could be a logistical nightmare for after-school activities.

About half of the parents who participated in a recent survey support pushing back school start times – something that some science supports for the teens' health, but that also could trigger a cascade of logistical nightmares for transportation and after-school activities.

Last year, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that middle and high schools start at 8:30 a.m. or later.

But doctors behind the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health wanted to know what parents thought about a shift, said Dr. Matthew Davis, the director of the National Poll on Children's Health at the U-M Medical School.

He's also professor of public policy and public health.

Davis said teens are "chronically sleep-deprived" for several reasons. Research suggests that hormonal changes shift their body clocks about two hours. Additionally, social interactions and even school homework mean they often go to sleep much later than needed to get the recommended 8 ½ to 9 ½ hours of sleep.

And it's not just a matter of being inconveniently drowsy. Studies suggest that aligning the school days with adolescents natural sleep patterns could improve physical and mental health. In addition to poorer academics, a lack of sleep has been linked to obesity, depression and even traffic accidents.

The recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics is based on "excellent medical evidence," but it's outside the academy's role to consider logistics, Davis said.

"The people who have to consider the logistics are the parents," he said.

"The goal (of this U-M study) is to make sure these perspectives are part of the local and national conversations," he said.

A handful of communities, including Ann Arbor, are exploring later school start times.

The national poll of 636 parents was conducted in November and December. The parents had teens aged 13-17 whose middle or high schools started before 8:30 a.m.

While some parents supported later support times, others did not.

Some highlights:

About 2 in 5 believed later start times would allow their teens more sleep, with 1 in 5 saying it would improve school performance.

■ 1 in 5 parents said a delayed start would not allow enough time for after-school activities

■ 1 in 7 expecting the change to negatively affect transportation issues.

■ Just more than 1 in 4 said they would only support the later time if it didn't impact school budgets, but nearly 1 in 4 said they would support the change regardless.

■ About 1 in 5 parents had heard about last year's recommendation for later school start times, but 71 percent of parents agreed with the guidelines once they were told about them.

■ About 1 in 4 supported a later school start only if it didn't impact school budget; another 1 in 4 supported the change regardless.

Contact Robin Erb : rerb@freepress.com or 313-222-2708. Follow her on Twitter @Freephealth.