Date Posted:20:10:04 02/07/07 Wed Author:Kelly Folsom Subject: Puberty and education policy?
As I was reading chapter 15 I began thinking intensely of an NPR broadcast I listened to recently discussing later starting times for high schools. The story talked about several school districts around the country that had pushed back their high school starting times in order to fit adolescent sleep paterns. I was happy to see the text examine these issues in more detail on p. 489 and 490. It also gives me some reassurance that my instruction is not always the sole catalyst for my students grogginess.
The text, as well as the NPR story, stressed that teens tend to need more sleep due to biological stresses we see discussed in Chapter 3. However, would this need for more sleep, or a different sleep pattern be at odds with attempts to combat adolescent obesity?
I also would like to support Julie's comments on the dangers of dismissing adolescent risk taking and experimentation as just a period or a fad. Though, I remember in high school I was reluctant to put much weight in the opinions of many of the adults in my life, just as many of my students seem to take my encouragement and caution with a grain of salt.
