51–60 of 497 posts
No, this shift does not reverse in adulthood for some people... I am in my 30's and I still fall asleep midnight to 1 AM, and wake up "late" by most adult standards at around 8/9 AM.
I can not shift my sleep schedule to earlier, I've tried many times, it's just not how I am wired.
As a teenager I was diagnosed with "ADD". Very intelligent, but unable to focus or complete assignments. My life habits were carb heavy unhealthy food (from the cafeteria), soda, lack of sleep due to long school commute, not much exercise As an adult, I eat no carbs, all meat and vegetables, I work from home and sleep in as far as I need every night. My thinking is laser sharp. They tried to medicate me with all sort…
> My guidance counseler suggested I dont attend college, just a community college (despite the fact that I got admitted to a decent state school) What's wrong with guidance counselors in American high schools? Why do I keep hearing about them giving kids incredibly stupid advice?
The job isn't well paid. And anyone who can do large scale talent identification will likely be paid a lot more in the corporate world. So you end up with the least competent ones in public schools.
As a teenager I was diagnosed with "ADD". Very intelligent, but unable to focus or complete assignments. My life habits were carb heavy unhealthy food (from the cafeteria), soda, lack of sleep due to long school commute, not much exercise As an adult, I eat no carbs, all meat and vegetables, I work from home and sleep in as far as I need every night. My thinking is laser sharp. They tried to medicate me with all sort…
Reminder to self, tell my children to ignore anything a 'guidance councilor' says
As a teenager I was diagnosed with "ADD". Very intelligent, but unable to focus or complete assignments. My life habits were carb heavy unhealthy food (from the cafeteria), soda, lack of sleep due to long school commute, not much exercise As an adult, I eat no carbs, all meat and vegetables, I work from home and sleep in as far as I need every night. My thinking is laser sharp. They tried to medicate me with all sort…
> My guidance counseler suggested I dont attend college, just a community college (despite the fact that I got admitted to a decent state school) What's wrong with guidance counselors in American high schools? Why do I keep hearing about them giving kids incredibly stupid advice?
Is smartphone/digital screen attributable to some degree to teenager's late-night habits, and therefore a need for later school times?
For those sports to thrive, teams need to practice, in order for practice to be efficient, it needs to be at least an hour. So 2 hours are allocated (suit up, practice, suit down). In order for children to be able to commit to 2 hours extra of their time BEFORE their parents get home (5pm), class would have to end by 3pm. Now, pair that with the fact that most school districts don't have enough bus drivers for every school, they pair up. A single bus driver will start their day bussing high school, then will bus elementary school (which starts later in the day). So high school ends a little earlier so the bus drivers can bus the elementary school kids home after they bus the high school kids. In order for the kids in high school to end at 2:15pm for sports and to save money on bus driver employment and bus fleet, they have to start 2:15pm - 8hr: 6:15am. It's crazy. It was like that when I went to high school in the early 90s, it's still the same today.
One big reason this shift isn't happening is that it creates coordination problems: for many families, everyone leaves for school at the same time, so if you move grade 9 forward an hour, you have to do the same with grade 4 to get any benefit; the 9th grader is taking the 4th grader to school. That problem stopped this shift dead recently where I live.
Elementary school parents who have jobs to get to wind up needing preschool care to fill that gap between their departure time and school start - high school age siblings aren’t even available to cover. Late elementary school drop off times impact parents’ options for work and commuting.
High school age kids can (or certainly should be able to) get themselves to school, so later starts don’t interfere with other family routines.
Is smartphone/digital screen attributable to some degree to teenager's late-night habits, and therefore a need for later school times?
Anecdotal, but as a pre-smartphone teenager I was a night owl which has gradually vanished despite the introduction of smartphones, so I think there's more at play
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, IIRC Boston actually tried this, and the uproar from parents whose schedules were thrown into disarray was so intense it had to immediately be walked back. It sucks, but there are broader considerations at play.
It's odd that parents consider broader considerations like their 9-5 schedule more important than the health and well-being of their own children. With all the resources and technology we have it's not as if we don't have the ability to find solutions to problems like "How to move a child from point A to point B at time C", so I guess this is more of a lack of will than a lack of capability.
Why are you blaming the parents? Most people in the world don't have the benefit of flexible tech jobs that allow them to work 10-6 or to come and go as needed during the work day.