This was an interesting study that reinforced my desire to homeschool my children:
U.S. teens are getting sleepier: Many lack even seven hours of shut-eye each night and the problem has worsened over two decades, a study found.
More than half of kids aged 15 and older would need to sleep at least two hours more each night to meet recommendations for adequate rest, heightening concerns about the impact on their health and academic performance. That’s according to researchers who analyzed the University of Michigan’s annual “Monitoring the Future” national surveys of youth behavior.
I don’t know the exact schedule these kids have, but I think we as a society need to reconsider what we’re doing to our teenagers.
Right now, I wake up at around 6 every weekday morning to go to the gym (weather or health permitting). At around 6:30 AM, I see high school kids waiting for their bus to go to school.
Think about that. These kids have to be at the bus stop by 6:30 in the morning in order to go to high school. That means that in order to get a shower, get breakfast, and to be ready for the day, they have wake up between 5 and 5:30 AM in order to get out to school.
It is absolutely insane that we burden children with classes that probably start at around 7:30 AM in the morning. School teachers pile on homework on them, which can take anywhere from 1 hour to 3 hours a day, encourage them to do extracurricular activities, which is generally 1 to 2 hours a day, and we expect them to be in bed by 9 or 10 PM?
This is assuming, of course, that they will be eating dinner and have time for their own leisurely activities. The entire school system these days expects teens to be constantly part of school except on holidays and weekends, but even weekends can be eaten up by school activities.
And we are stunned when we find out that teens aren’t getting enough sleep? We chalk it up to bad parenting? How about bad schooling, schooling which most of you idiots voted for?
Homeschool your kids so they can get a good night’s sleep. Because school boards aren’t going to change these policies, no matter what you do at this point. The system must be preserved at all costs, especially the children.