SLEEP: Apply simple test

Studies suggest later school start times would help sleepy students. Did the studies that make this case identify if torpor teenagers are a result of the quantity and quality of sleep or the timing of sleep (circadian rhythm)? If the latter, then moving school start time will affect different people differently, so the average effect is unknown. If it is the quantity of sleep and not the timing, then the CDC, AMA and AAP don’t appreciate what every single American knows as an absolute fact, people stay up later when they don’t have to get up as early. “Don’t stay up late, it’s a school night” said every parent every Sunday through Thursday night.

Also, actual experiments have shown that nighttime exposure to light at the blue end of the spectrum delays your circadian rhythm. “White” Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) used in the backlights of computer displays, smart phone displays, AND now home lighting, have a peak emission around 465 nm wavelength which is…wait for it…blue. Correlation between what has become ubiquitous blue light and shorter sleep cycles may point to a new “Spectrum Disorder.”

A rational approach would be to give students in several schools an alertness test first thing in the morning, then as an experiment, shift the schedules in some (not all) of those schools. After a couple of semesters, retest all the students and compare the results between the current schedule and the shifted schedule. One test is worth a thousand expert opinions.

BRENT REGAN

Coeur d’Alene