School (and Work) Should Start at 10 O’Clock says Expert
School Too Early
Those with children will know what a struggle it is to get schoolchildren out in the morning to start school at 9am.
They also know what a struggle it is to get them to go to bed at a time appropriate to get them to school the next day for 9am.
Again, they know that their children are often weary and may even fall asleep in the evening for an hour or so on a comfy chair.
Goes Against Body Clock
A new study shows this is because the 9am start does not suit their body clock.
It is the same for adults up to the age of 55, although a little less so,
This 9am start means that we have a hugely sleep-deprived society.
Our bodies are not naturally attuned to this 9am start.
Society would be much better off if people started work at 10am rather than 9am.
Schoolchildren would learn far more if they started school at 10am rather than 9am.
Alarm Bells Ringing
People do not wake up naturally for a 9 o’clock start.
It is unnatural for them to be ready and away for work or school starting at 9am.
That’s why they all have to use alarms.
You can’t just stop having alarms or people would sometimes get in late.
However, if school, or work, started an hour later, an awful lot more people would wake up naturally before their alarm wakes them up – and that is a lot more healthy for them than being awakened ny the shock to their systems of the alarm.
Heart Attacks
I gave up using an alarm years ago even when I was doing a 9 to 5 job.
The reason I gave it up was that I read that 40% of heart attacks take place first thing in the morning.
It surely can’t be healthy to get this sudden shock awakening every day.
Lets look at blood pressure.
Blood Pressure
Your diastolic /systolic blood pressure figures are 120/80 for a normal person.
However, when you are asleep it is half that, i.e. 60/40.
If you wake up naturally, without an alarm, your blood pressure rises gradually from 60/40 to 120/80 which must be healthy.
However, if your alarm goes off it rises from 60/40 to 120/80 very rapidly.
That, surely, can’t be good for your system.
Zero to Fifty
Imagine if every time you started up your car you went from zero to 50 in just seconds.
The car would soon start to hit problems if you did this every time you started up the car. A nice, easy, transition is best a driving instructor would tell you.
If we wouldn’t do it with our cars why would we do it to our bodies.
Every singly day our blood pressure is going from 60/40 to 120/80 not in a nice easy transition, like we would do with a car, but a sudden shock transition.
No wonder 40% of heart attacks take place first thing in the morning.
Body Clocks Not Suited to early Start
According to Dr Paul Kelly of Oxford University, a sleeping patterns expert, the body clock of people between 10 and 55 is not suited to early morning starts.
He said “Most people wake up to alarms, because they don’t naturally wake up at the time when they have to get up and go to work.”
As a result, most people suffer from sleep deprivation as they are getting up well before thousands of years of attuning of their body tells them to.
He continued “So we’ve got a sleep deprived society – it’s just that this age group, say 14-24 in particular, is more deprived than any other sector.
Sleep Deprived Society
“This is a huge society issue, Staff should start at 10am. You don’t get back to the 9am starting point until 55.
‘Staff are usually sleep deprived. We’ve got a sleep-deprived society. It is hugely damaging on the body’s systems because you are affecting physical emotional and performance systems in the body.
‘Your liver and your heart have different patterns and you’re asking them to shift two or three hours. This is an international issue. Everybody is suffering and they don’t have to.”
Greater Productivity at School and Work
Society would benefit greatly if people were allowed to listen to their body clocks. Productivity at work would be greater and children would learn more at school.
People would also be at less risk of heart attacks first thing in the morning if they awakened naturally more often and without the tyranny of the alarm clock.
Then there’s those people who set their alarms to go off multiple times in the morning before they get up…..
Try Doing That to Your Car
Try going from zero to fifty miles an hour in your car, then slowing down almost to a halt and doing it again. Do that several more times as you go along the road and repeat this every time you start the car.
It won’t be long before you are contacting one of the garages of the town who will tell you that you need a new engine.
Unfortunately, for most of us, it is not so easy to replace our own engines. Once they conk out that’s usually it.
Battling Their Body Clocks
As regards our children, we are fighting a battle against their body clocks. Their bodies are telling them they should not be getting up while their alarm is interceding to make them wake up at an unnatural time.
No wonder they are grumpy and argumentative in the morning.
They’ll also be a little more tired than if they had their full allocation of sleep and had woken up naturally with their sleep needs fulfilled.
The teachers would be in a better mood to deal with them, and teach them too, so a 10am start would be a double bonus.
Why do we force this unnatural rising on our children when we now have the scientific facts to show that it is not good for them and not good for their ability to learn.
Schools would be far more pleasant places, and easier for the teachers, if they pupils came in bright and cheerful and ready to learn with their sleep requirement fulfilled and fully met.