Later school start times might increase the sleep of adolescents

A school district in Colorado has found a way to get students more sleep each night - change the school start times. They shifted the elementary schools to start an hour earlier, while middle schools started up to an hour later. High schools started 70 minutes later than before. While the elementary school kids showed no difference in their sleep patterns, middle school students got an average of 29 minutes of extra sleep. High school students added 46 minutes of sleep. This shift could help teenagers with what many sleep experts call "social jet lag," where there can be up to a three-hour difference between when they go to bed during the week and on weekends. And more sleep is definitely better, as sleep deprivation can affect memory, learning and the overall health of children.