The state of California has enforced the importance of sleep for students.
What We Know:
- It will excite California students to know that California has officially become the first state to push back school start times. They will implement the new time arrangements within high schools and middle schools for now.
- Governor Gavin Newsom signed the new California law this week. The law now prohibits high students from starting school no earlier than 8:30 AM and middle school students from starting prior to 8 AM during school days. However, rural schools districts are exempt from these regulations. Unfortunately, the law will not go into effect until 2022.
- According to the SB-328, “existing law requires the governing board of each school district to fix the length of the schoolday for the several grades and classes of the schools maintained by the school district in accordance with specified provisions of law”.
- Based on research from health organizations, they made this decision in favor of health and wellness for adolescents. They determined that teens often fall asleep later at night and require longer sleep in the morning. With the current school timing, the youth aren’t getting enough hours of sleep. According to sleep experts, excessive sleep deprivation contributes to health risks in the future.
- More sleep for adolescents is likely to help increase their productivity in school; however, there are many people criticizing the new changes. Some believe each school should have a choice on implementing certain school times. Others believe it will be costly to make these arrangements, including new bus route schedules.
We couldn’t agree more with the California law benefiting young children and teens. Sleep is essential to daily functioning, which growing adolescents require. Feeling well rested will allow them to focus and make their school days easier. Hopefully, this law will be a great contribution to the education system.
