by Maggie Larkin

Created on: April 25, 2007   Last Updated: May 10, 2007

It is 8:00 a.m. Many American high school students have already been in school for 45 minutes, yet, according to sleep research, the teenage brain does not "wake up" until later in the morning, closer to 10:00 a.m. Why bother going to school for two hours if the brain is not sufficiently prepared? Students and teachers ask themselves this question daily. Psychologists have discovered that the Circadian Rhythm or Sleep-Wake Cycle of Teenagers is vastly different from that of an adult. Is it logical to assume that high school students would perform better in school if the hours accommodated their biological clocks? This paradox of sleep and education requires a change if students are expected to rise above their current achievement level.

Consider an average teenager's schedule: after waking up at about 6:00 a.m., he rushes out the door to catch the school bus at 7:20. School begins promptly at 7:50. After a Calculus test in his first hour, he is caught dozing off in his second hour, World History. After school, there is play practice until 5:00, then a swim meet. At 9:30 that night, homework begins. At 12:00, his mother forces him to go to bed. Unfortunately, he could not quite reach the required 1500 words on his English essay, so he will have to wake up 30 minutes earlier the next morning to finish it. If every day is similar to this, the example student is getting about 6 hours of sleep per night.
I have witnessed the effects of the delayed Teenage Sleep Cycle firsthand. As a senior in High School, I have spent many a late night sitting at the computer, trying to
finish impending assignments. Accompanied by an early wake time, I estimate that I lose about two hours each night. After a rough six hours of sleep, I am difficult to wake, and find myself hitting the snooze button more than once each morning. At school, I notice, especially in my first two classes, that I am very tired. Sometimes I cannot fight the urge to close my eyes, and I sleep in class. My teachers notice the effects of the Circadian Shift. On the days when I have two hours of math in the morning, my teacher has pointed out an almost instantaneous "awakening" of my peers and myself.
When we sleep, our brain has time to rest, recharge, and make sure that all parts of the body are working efficiently. Sleep is divided into four chronological stages, which can be seen by a difference in wavelength and shape on an Electro encephalograph (EEG). Stage 1 is light sleep, characterized by twitches

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