Insufficient sleep is common among high school students and is associated with several health risks such as being overweight, drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco and using drugs — as well as poor academic performance. This is why the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a policy statement in 2014 advocating for later start times.
The recently published CDC report includes start time data from roughly 40,000 public middle schools, high schools and combined schools. Highlighted below are five findings from the report.
1. Schools that start later allow adolescent students the opportunity to get the recommended 8.5 to 9.5 hours of sleep on school nights.
2. Nearly all (42) states reported that 75 to 100 percent of the public schools in their respective states started before 8:30 a.m.
3. The national average start time was 8:03 a.m.
4. The percentage of schools with start times of 8:30 a.m. or later varied greatly by state. No schools in Hawaii, Mississippi and Wyoming started at 8:30 a.m. or later; whereas more than 75 percent of schools in Alaska and North Dakota started at 8:30 a.m. or later.
5. Louisiana had the earliest average school start time (7:40 a.m.), while Alaska had the latest (8:33 a.m.).
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