By James Steinbauer, The Columbus Dispatch
COLUMBUS – On Aug. 17, 11-year-old Lauren Drexel will join hundreds of other students who stumble out of bed hours before the rooster crows to prepare for the first day of middle school in Hilliard.
It’s back-to-school time and students must put behind their relaxed summer routines for busy school nights and early morning alarms, a transition that can be tough on both their mental and physical health.
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“It’s what we call social jet lag,” said Dr. Robert Kowatch, a psychiatrist at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. “The kids have been living in California, going to bed three hours later, and, suddenly, they’ve got to wake up at 6 a.m.”
For Lauren, it’s more like 5:30 a.m. That gives her a half hour to eat a quick breakfast before catching the bus at 6:04, said Leslie Drexel, Lauren’s mom and the leader of the Hilliard chapter of Start School Later, a grass-roots organization that advocates for later school start times across the country.
Lauren has been sleeping in until 8 a.m. or so during the summer.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association all have called on middle schools and high schools to start no earlier than 8:30 a.m.
Chronic sleep deprivation among teenagers, the groups say, can impair immune systems, cause high blood pressure and increase the risk of depression and diabetes.