Heather Macintosh
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On the Blog Post Early School Start Times: High Cost of Status Quo
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On the Blog Post Early School Start Times: High Cost of Status Quo
Heather Macintosh
8:09 am on Monday, May 20, 2013
Thank you for your questions. Those of us who support a later school start time care about children and want to remove barriers to their learning and also improve their health, safety, and well-being. School systems raise the red flag of increased cost for busing without considering these other costs. I am simply pointing out that an even-handed discussion of costs would consider these other budget items and that the bottom line decision should always be based on what is best for children.
As far as the school services mentioned, if the studies are to be believed the rates of drop-out, tardy, graduation, depression, anxiety, attendance and academic performance all improved so fewer of these services would be needed. Wouldn't we want to improve these rates for the sake of students' health and success?
Your question about high school students being able to be left alone for a few hours: The time between dismissal and parents arriving home is considered a "high-risk window" for adolescent students and the cost of risky behaviors is also one that is borne by the community in terms of policing juvenile crime, substance abuse and results of these choices.Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 1999 Statistics (show that serious violent crime committed by juveniles peaks in the hours immediately after the close of school.) http://www.ojjdp.ncjrs.gov/ojstatbb/nr2006/downloads/chapter3.pdf (continued..)
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On the article Architectural Historian Orlando Ridout Dies at Age 59
Heather Macintosh
9:10 am on Thursday, April 11, 2013
ReplyI am so sorry to hear that! Orlando was one of our champions in saving the Downtown Annapolis playground for future generations of neighborhood and school children. What a loss. My sympathies to his family and friends.
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On the Blog Post Sports Injuries and School Start Times - Doing the Math
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On the article Movement to Change School Times Lands in Howard County
Heather Macintosh
8:52 pm on Monday, February 18, 2013
ReplyGreat conversation!
What if we re-imagined school, forgot about what WE used to do, and put all of our pre-conceived notions aside. Would we design it exactly as it is today? Are there any ways we can improve upon the education our adolecscents and teenagers receive?
I would personally like to see my middle school child have recess & a chance to run around outdoors. I would rather if teachers didn't resort to yelling - ever. It would be great if there were more electives, less busy-work, less waiting for other kids to catch up, more child-driven & exploratory learning.
I would prefer if decisions about the school day schedule were set by educators who looked at scientific research spanning over 20 years that indicates children post-puberty experience a sleep phase shift that makes a 5:30 a.m. wake-up call for them the equivalent of a 3:30 a.m. wake-up call for me. I don't function well without the recommended sleep for my age, and I don't believe kids do either. For my high schooler to get 9.25 hours of sleep on a school night and still catch the bus on time, she would have to be asleep at 8:00 p.m.
It's an out-moded schedule that needs to be re-imagined.
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On the article Anne Arundel Delegates to Introduce Bill on School Safety
Heather Macintosh
2:30 pm on Tuesday, January 15, 2013
ReplyAny legislation that deals with safety and mental health for our school students needs to take a holistic approach and include a safe and healthy school start time. The links between early school start times and student safety before and after school, behavior and mood while in school, risky decision-making, depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation have been clearly outlined to AACPS board and administration. Shifting to a safer and healthier start to the school day could be one of the most effective changes we could make in improving all of these risk factors and more. www.startschoollater.net
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On the article Group Asks Board for Later School Start Time
Heather Macintosh
4:06 pm on Friday, January 11, 2013
ReplyThe petition is still open at www.aacstarttime.com - your opportunity to voice support and read up on the reasoning behind this request.
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On the article Greenfield Looking at Creative School-Start Time Solutions
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On the Blog Post Start School Later: The Kids are Exhausted
Heather Macintosh
12:18 pm on Tuesday, December 11, 2012
ReplyJen,
Your observations are excellent about caffeine, screen time & sleep. Sleep tips like this can definitely help students cope with the extremely early hours ...(What time do high school students set their alarms? Tell us in the comments!)
... but there's only so much that parents and kids can do to get that recommended 9 hours of sleep if they're struggling against biology to wake up at 5:30 a.m. or earlier.
You must have had a better bus pick-up schedule than some who are being picked up around the time you were waking up. The earliest I could find in my area is 5:50. Our school bus picks up at 6:25.
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On the Blog Post Start School Later: The Kids are Exhausted
Heather Macintosh
6:18 pm on Friday, December 7, 2012
Hi Tyrone,
There's a difference between issue of 'sleep hygiene' and the issue of school start times in sync with circadian rhythms of adolescents and young adults. Sleep hygiene is all about the self-control to get yourself to bed on time, setting up an environment that is conducive to sleep (dark room, quiet, cool temperatures, etc.). If that was the whole story, the answer would be to go to bed earlier. What we're talking about here is an issue of biology and sleep rhythms particular to adolescents and young adults with the school schedule and these extremely early waking times.(http://www.sleepfoundation.org/article/hot-topics/backgrounder-later-school-start-times) Because of this shift in circadian rhythms, our kids are not only missing out on the quantity of sleep that is recommended, but also the quality. You can read more about the health impacts and the positive impacts of later start times here http://www.startschoollater.net/success-stories.html.It has been said that having a high-school aged kid at 5:30 a.m. is the equivalent of having an adult wake at 2:30 a.m. We all know how that feels. Would we choose to do that every weekday of our lives? It's basically shift-work scheduling and not the ideal for anyone, especially for children whose bodies and brains are still developing.
The length of the school day is not the issue that we're concerned with, but the start time.
It's a complex issue but important.
Heather Macintosh
8:40 am on Monday, May 20, 2013
Reply to Casey Cosgrove (continued)
Yes, the Hamilton report mentioned above suggests two other top reforms and pursuing one doesn't preclude pursuing others. Very early school start times are a public health problem and must become a high priority for our school systems.
The costs / negative impacts mentioned by AACPS study raising multiple concerns that after school jobs, sports will suffer have been dis-proved by studies such as Edina-Minneapolis, Arlington County, Loudoun County and more. Options for no-cost transportation changes that have been devised by many school systems (eg. Arlington) show that these high transportation dollar amounts are NOT a given. Also, general fears that society will crumble have been disproven in many districts (see above list). Have a look at the study documenting five years of impacts on the school systems in Edina and Minneapolis, MN following the change to a later start time. http://www.cehd.umn.edu/carei/publications/documents/Bulletin200212Wahlstrom.pdf
Positive results are well-accepted by most experts and policy-makers at this time. Please see the following websites for more information: http://startschoollater.pbworks.com/w/page/58217472/Start%20School%20Later%20Reference%20List
http://schoolstarttime.org/
http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/healthy/matters/benefits-of-sleep/learning-memory