Because of recent discoveries about teen health, some districts are considering starting the school day later.
Staying awake during first period American studies class is difficult for sophomore Bailey Kelly.
Other teens experience similar issues. “You’re not awake, you’re not ready for it,” said fellow sophomore Brittany Bloom. “All you think about is wanting to go back to bed.”
Eighth grade history teacher Erin Bakkom has seen the same tiredness in her students. She spoke to the Portsmouth School board about the importance of changing start times for the middle and high schools.
“We started off by saying, ‘What are the questions we need to ask and what are the answers we need to get?,’” said Leslie Stevens, chair of the school board. “We really need to take the time to group those questions together and get concrete data and look at it and say ‘This is where we’re at. What do we want to do with it?’ There’s a fairly strong sense to do something, I just can’t tell you what that something is yet.”
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