View Full Version : Teenagers 'deserve' to sleep in
StarsOfCCTV
08-03-2009, 19:00
A headteacher who pioneered 20-minute lessons for schoolchildren has said that teenage pupils deserve a two-hour lie in.
Dr Paul Kelley, head of Monkseaton Community High School in North Tyneside, has called on all secondary schools to follow his lead and begin lessons at 11am.
Starting lessons later would mean the end of "teenage zombies" dozing at their desks - and could have a significant impact on exam performance.
Research suggested teenagers' brains were wired differently to adults' and worked two hours behind adult time, he said.
Memory tests performed on Monkseaton High pupils by neuroscientist Russell Foster, Chair of Circadian Neuroscience at Brasenose College, Oxford, showed the students' brains worked better in the afternoon.
This suggested young people's body clocks may shift as they begin their teens - meaning teenagers got up late not because they were lazy but because they were biologically programmed to do so, Professor Foster said.
Dr Kelley is adamant the timetable change would have a profound impact.
And he said depriving teenagers of sleep could have an impact on not just their learning but their mental and physical health.
He said: "Teenagers aren't lazy. We're depriving them of the sleep they need through purely biological factors beyond their control.
"The research carried out by Professor Foster showed that, from the age of ten, our internal body clocks shift, so its good for young people to stay in bed.
"We are making teenagers ratty by getting them up early."
He hopes school governors will approve the new timetable before the start of the next school year.
Last year, Dr Kelley carried out a trial at Monkseaton High that found pupils scored up to 90 per cent in a GCSE science paper after one session involving three 20-minute bursts interspersed with ten-minute breaks for physical activity.
The pupils had not covered any part of the GCSE science syllabus before the lessons.
I don't. I had all the cr*p from my 17 year old son this morning. :p
Get up and get on with it. Heaven help us from eejets giving lazy sods even more excuses.
Oh right, well still we are not all Lazy sods :p
I do find that in my lessons in the morning I come out feeling like Ive learnt nothing
DaVeyWaVey
08-03-2009, 19:45
I don't like his study. Personally, I work better in the mornings. I'm usually always up bright and early and ready to go. 7.30 on weekdays and by 9am on the weekends. I can never sleep in unless I have a hangover!
I always concentrate better in the mornings and start to trail off a bit later in the afternoon..
That's why I don't think his study is really right. We're all different. Some of us work better at different times of the day.
I do agree that I trail off in the afternoons but still mornings are worse....I find the middle of the day is much better
Chris_2k11
08-03-2009, 19:58
Im not a morning person AT ALL
I am a morning person, too. My hubby is a late night person, but I cannot stay up late during the week at all.
OH has a theory that it depends on the time of day that you were born whether you are an am or pm type.
However, I saw a documentary the other day that suggested that exposure to light can alter your internal body clock.
They said that if you are a morning person, wear sunglasses in the morning and then have max exposure to light in the afternoon - this should apparently help you to stay up later.
Alternatively, if you are a night owl and want to go to bed earlier where sunglasses in the afternoon and evening and you should get more tired earlier.
I haven't tried this - I am quite happy going to bed at 10.30 during the week, lol
Oh right, well still we are not all Lazy sods :p
I do find that in my lessons in the morning I come out feeling like Ive learnt nothing
Sorry for generalising....I really can only speak for (or about anyway - I am sure that he would disagree with my assessment) my son - he is definitely a lazy sod x100:D
di marco
08-03-2009, 20:34
my trouble is getting out of bed, once im up and had a shower im usually ok. although lie ins do sound good lol!
Chris_2k11
08-03-2009, 20:37
yeah thats true, once im ready and out the door im fine. its just actually getting up lol
We're all different. I know some people my age who are up at 6am every day then there's those that don't get up until past midday. My sleeping pattern is so erratic, there's no point going there. Any time of day is bad for me.
It's been known for a long time that pubescent teenagers need more sleep than adults. We're not all lazy, some people just need more rest than others.
Having said that, starting the school day at 11am is ridiculous. Where did the scientist come up with that time?
I'd love to know the age ranges and numbers of his study group.
Chloe O'brien
08-03-2009, 23:38
I think it's down to how you were brought up. If a child has stucture in their upbirnging where they have set times for getting up in the morning and going to bed a set time, when they become teenagers and young adults they should have no problem with getting out of bed in the morning, but if a child is allowed to lie in bed until lunch-time during the weekend then it's going to reflect on them when they're older.
Kath - I wish!
My kids have had a very structured up bringing, now at 17 my son is rebelling and will not do a blasted thing I say or ask.
OH is still away a lot and I am really struggling.
I think that is just normal teenage behaviour, I am sure he will grow out of it again. Personally, I have never had a problem getting up very early in the morning, but I can't stay up too late on a regular basis.
I think it's down to how you were brought up. If a child has stucture in their upbirnging where they have set times for getting up in the morning and going to bed a set time, when they become teenagers and young adults they should have no problem with getting out of bed in the morning, but if a child is allowed to lie in bed until lunch-time during the weekend then it's going to reflect on them when they're older.
:rotfl: that hasnt worked with me then
Could do with this lie in; my school bus goes so early that it's not unusual for me to be half falling asleep in my lessons.
Hey, i am 44 and I could do with a lie in sometimes. Unfortunately I am too busy running about after my lazy teenagers to have much chance of that - and working full time.
No1 son isn't speaking to me at the mo - I had the cheek to ask him how his day was at school.:searchme:
I cannot wait until he goes to Uni - but I am worried that he won't get in!
:eek: Sometimes I don't feel like talking through my day with my mum but I just tell her politely that I don't want to talk about it.
i am fine as soon as i get out of bed! Its just getting up, but then again i cant stay in cad past about 10 o clock as i feel i am wasting the day
My lecturer the other day summed it up pretty well! she only had 2 people in the 4 oclock seminar and i was like i had gathered you students dont like 9 oclock or 10 oclock but now i have gathered you dont like getting out of bed at all!
Chris_2k11
09-03-2009, 21:29
No1 son isn't speaking to me at the mo - I had the cheek to ask him how his day was at school.:searchme: LOL how dare you ask such a thing :D
Chloe O'brien
09-03-2009, 23:15
Trin I know how you feel. If I ask Marley how her day has been she sighs and moans why do you always have to ask, but as soon as I sit down to watch tv or pick up a book suddenly she decided to become all talkative, you can't win.
CrazyLea
09-03-2009, 23:25
I find, and a few people I have spoken to have found...
If you get up at say 8am.. you are less tired than you are when you wake up at say 12.....
So I think this would just make people more tired.. if that even makes any snese. it does to me :p
yeah i know what you mean, sometimes when you wake up later you feel more tired.
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