Many high school students struggle to sleep early, making it difficult to wake up for early morning classes due to biological factors. During adolescence, the body's internal clock shifts later, causing teenagers to feel alert later at night compared to adults. This shift often results in insufficient rest before school, and the issue compounds as the school week progresses.
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Chronic sleep deprivation affects well-being, mental health, physical development, and learning abilities, according to Oskar Jenni from the University of Zurich. He notes that teenagers' natural sleep patterns hinder early bedtimes, suggesting that later school start times could provide significant benefits. While the advantages of delayed start times have been studied in various countries, research on flexible systems allowing students to choose their start times is limited.
Joëlle Albrecht, Reto Huber, and Oskar Jenni from the University of Zurich investigated the effects of flexible school schedules at Gossau Upper Secondary School in St. Gallen, which has offered this option for three years. Under this system, students can attend optional lessons before regular classes, during midday breaks, or later, allowing them to start school between 7:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m.
The researchers aimed to assess the impact of this schedule change on sleep patterns and academic performance. The study involved 754 students, averaging 14 years old, who completed surveys before and after the implementation of the flexible schedule.
The results were significant: 95% of students opted for a later start, beginning their day an average of 38 minutes later than previously. Consequently, they woke up about 40 minutes later, allowing for an extra 45 minutes of sleep on school days due to unchanged bedtimes. Students also reported better sleep quality and overall well-being. Joëlle Albrecht noted fewer issues with falling asleep and improved health-related quality of life. Academic performance also rose, with enhanced scores in English and mathematics compared to canton-wide test results.
These findings, published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, indicate that flexible school start times could effectively mitigate chronic sleep deprivation in teenagers. They also underscore potential improvements in mental health and academic outcomes when school schedules align better with adolescents' biological rhythms. Reto Huber emphasized that later class start times could significantly help address the ongoing mental health crisis among young people. A 2022 report from the Swiss Health Observatory found that 47% of 11 to 15-year-olds reported recurring or chronic psycho-affective symptoms, including sadness, fatigue, anxiety, and difficulties with sleep.