by Emilie West

Created on: November 10, 2009

Students in high-school have always had difficulty with waking up. They would rather start the day later in the morning

The question whether this improves a student's performance has always received divided answers. Some teachers say students are more receptive to new ideas in the morning, others claim students are more attentive in the afternoon.

Both sides of the discussion have significant arguments, but recent studies has found that the hormone melatonin, which promotes sleepiness, lingers in a teenager's brain much longer than in an adult's. This causes a teenager's biological clock to run later. In a way, their brains are delayed and they don't catch up until around 10 AM.

This time, at which the brain becomes fully awake, gets later as a person gets older. The tipping point is at the age of 20, when the process reverses and the brain gets more and more alert again in morning.

A teacher's job is a difficult one, but teaching a class of semi-sleeping, uncooperative students doesn't make it any easier. And what is the use of teaching a class that probably won't remember the most of it, because their brains are partially switched off?

Being in such a state of so-called 'jet-lag' also increases errors. This makes students victims of their own timetables, because their early-morning-errors cause them to fail, whatever their efforts of studying.

Not to mention motivation, which reduces almost completely due to early mornings. Not only does a motivated class create a better learning environment and therefore learn more, it's also important in reducing the rate of truancy.

With the amount of things high school students have on their plate these days -long days at school followed by homework, part-time jobs, extra-curricular activities and hobbies, like sports (which are absolutely necessary to teenagers, who are still growing up)- students are sometimes forced to stay up late and miss crucial hours of sleep.

Sleep is one of the most important things for teenagers. A lack of sleep causes the weary brain to take even longer to wake up. But most importantly, tired teens are forgetful, impatient, vulnerable and stressed. They have a very low concentration and often daydream or even fall asleep in class.

This means there is a direct link between sleep and academic success. And with their busy schedules already cutting in on their bed-times and teens always having too much on their minds, there is only one way of getting sufficient sleep on a school night.

'Sleeping in' has, to many people, a negative ring to it and is often linked to laziness. However, it sometimes is the only way to keep teens from cases of insomnia and sleep deprivation.

With classes beginning later in the morning, not only would students have a better chance of getting a good night sleep, they would also be able to start their days well and put the hours they spend in school to good use.

Getting enough sleep and having an awake brain also reduces the need for coffee and sleeping pills.

And even though teachers and professors still have uneven opinions on the matter, students say with a clear majority that they are too tired in the mornings, unable to participate in class and not motivated enough to try.

Ensuring that teenagers get to sleep and wake up properly will cause a better atmosphere in classes (which benefits teachers as well), better test-results and healthier teens.

It's a win-win-win! So why not bump up those timetables a few hours and do everyone a favor?

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