the boy apologised and is not facing punishment. >> i'm antonio mora, thank you for joining us, with the latest news any time head to aljazeera.com. luis suarez is next with "inside story". have an agreed night. -- have a great night. reat night. [ ♪ ] if educators found out they were doing something that made it hard for kids to learn, you'd think they'd stop, right. years of research is piling up spo pointing to the effects of early start times for high schoolers, greater chances of car accidents, but schools are still insisting on early starts. growing body, sleeping heads,

it's "inside story". welcome to "inside story", i'm ray suarez. we know, or to be more accurate, we have known for years about the brain and body development of adolescence. their bodies want to make them wants to stay up late, sleep late. but high schools are under pressure to have first periods start earlier and earlier. it's easier to connour up a vision of kids in first year calculus, chins on arms, eyelids heavily. it's a cliche, because it's true. exhausted and grumpy teenagers barely able to during himself out of bed and get to school. it's have growing course. to let them sleep more and start the school day later. more than 20%, high schools and

middle schools begin classes earlier than the recommended 8:30am start time. some start earlier than 7:30. the result, according to health professionals. tired and sleep deprived students, don't get the 8-9 hours of sleep that they need. >> sleep depravation has been studied and has impact. an impact that can lead to poor school performance, dangerous affects on teams. >> the doctor is director of the disorders center at the children's hospital in miami. >> teenagers are depressed, and when they drive, and it can cause behavioural issues, learning issues. sleep depravation. a report released by the c.d.c.

found between 75 and 100% of schools in 42 states started classes before the recommended 8:45 start times, and two out of three high school students sleep less than eight hours a night due to earlier i wait times. every state in the nation in the state of minnesota, as it did years ago should delay the teenager, not make it earlier, which is what is happening today. but opponents say pushing back classes comes with a price, including bus costs and less time for sports and jobs. a small price to pay for some, who in the meantime say parents begin to get their kids ready. i recommend for parents to start

a reach before school. to start waking up the teenager earlier. and so the awakening time needs to be looked at i have a guest in washington, the cofounder and operation director of start school later incorporated. if you have to make the pitch, and there are so many stakeholders, but the parents, they are the biggest single audience, how do you make the sale. if this is a good thing for the kids, and especially a good thing for education. >> well, i guess if i had two seconds to elaborate, i would say that any educational invention that you do with students that does not involve a start time of schools is like putting classes on a blank person. the fact of the matter is no

matter what you do in terms of educational awareness, heroin prevention programs, obesity prevention, success strategies, memorization techniques. if a student is not getting the sleep they need, they can't function. they are not going to have the health benefits, and no matter what you do. all these other things will not work well if the kids are dying. >> a blind person wearing glasses. everyone thrives on examples. they know what works and doesn't work. do we know what happens, do we know if the school says okay. you've convinced me we'll move it in an hour. are there results that we can see and say this is what happened, take 500 kids and let them sleep an extra hour. >> in fact, with tweaks, there

has been improvements. there's a longstanding rhode island school where they proposed a 20 minute shift. we wanted to do it for three months, and said let's change the start time. >> not only were the students having a marked improvement in their mood. it was a boarding school. these students got sleep, 22 minutes of sleep. they went to bed and br able to sleep in. they had time to go to the cafeteria and fete food. they were barely trying to do that. they liked the change. they decided to stock it as a standard. when schools start earlier, and a lot do, what do we observe and

measure about that. >> one of the things that is a problem with why there's a resistance with the school start is an idea that there'll be an incredible cost. there's not going to be a gain. one of the biggest ideas with that is the researcher has been out since the '90s. they talked about measuring student achievement. the problem is that students will do a lot of things to otain goals. they'll sacrifice activities and do what it takes to achieve something, and they have been sacrificing their health. that's the thing that sh the issue. now we are seeing detrimental long term impacts to health. >> like what. >> increased depression, increased sleep depravation known to lead to risky behaviours. coffee.

energy drinks. things try to stay away. when you have parents making coffee, something is wrong. the problem is sleep as a society, we feel if you need eight hours of sleep, you are not performing, you are wasting four time. and time and time again. bill clinton found out. you know, and a lot of figuresers finding out. a poster child for why we need more sleep. they had a health child and realized they needed to regulate leap. you need good nutrition. >> what we are finding is units are experiencing problems, discretion, suicidal ideation,

obesity. earlier onset. sleep issues and sleep apnoea, and decades ago we could never dream of students having the problem, children growing. >> the organization - thank you for joining us. >> we know more than ever about neurological development, maturity, we re view the science and talk to a scientist that made the move. cool of body, sleepy head. it's "inside story". learn more about electronic cigarettes. >> but could vaping be just as dangerous? >> what are you really taking in? >> we don't know what chemicals are in these things. >> techknow's team of experts show you how the miracles of science... >> i'm standing in a tropical windstorm. >> can affect and surprise us. >> wow, some of these are amazing. >> techknow - where technology meets humanity.

you're watching "inside story", i'm ray suarez, as millions of americans kids load up their back packs and begin the new school year, we are looking at when to start the school day, and what shape the brains and bodies are in. joining me now, internist and asleep specialist with the american academy of sleep medicine, caroline, who campaigned for later school start times, and via skype. peter steepleman, superintendent of the columbian missouri schools. aren't all americans not getting enough sleep? >> that is the number one sleep disorders. is the majority not obtaining

sleep: what is particularly important to understand about the adolescent rain. why is it of particular interest. why is it important for high schoolers. >> this is how i explain to my patients. you cannot compare an infant or a toddler as a 72-year-old, as we age the brain changes, and especially in the younger ages. you know, the baby is born, and needs to be between 15 and 16 hours of sleep, as it matures and becomes an infant and between 10 to 12. when it hits the school age, there's maturation, electrical connections made in the brain. we need that time, those nine to 10 hours of sleep to happen to promote that. when it doesn't happen, we see failure at school.

failure in social activities, and this can dampen a child's outcome future if it's not taken care of. >> what about the adolescent brand in particular. what's the difference between an 8 or 9-year-old and 16 or 17-year-old. >> well, i think first of all, the frontal cortex, where we develop a good judgment, what is good and what is bad. also developing a memory. sleep allows this to happen. moreover, when we reach certain stages, in particular stage 3, there's an association there with growth hormone release, and that is a necessary mock you on the body that is released to promote growth in a child. not only from the brain, but the

bone, muscle and other tissue. even though some may think it's not important. it's one of the most important thing happening as a child. >> superintendent, have you heard of call of research evidence and move. was it hard to do? >> it did. >> it is hard to do. you know, listening to the beginning of your broadcast, it's true, that overwhelming evidence is not received well. it's hard to make an exchange. what is clear is 18,000 students. 300 scare mimed. there's not a lot wrong. in terms of we are two hours from st. louis. we had an opportunity when we were opening up a high school to re-engage the community through the world cafe, and shared with them some of the research about why sleep is important.

we know that imprinting. 80% of it happens. it was important for us to do this. we were not getting a lot of traction. we started the conversation in 2007, opening up the high school. how might we take advantage of that change, making a change to the start time. i tell you, there's nothing more powerful than students appearing in front of a schoolboard telling them about their own brains, and why a later start would make sense for them. the "new york times" covers us who made a persuasive speech to the schoolboard about listen to us, hear from us as a student about why we make the later start. >> caroline hemingway, there's dismissed as anecdotal evidence. when your mother is raising children and you see first hand what is going on, what is the difference? >> well it's miserable as anyone parent will attest to have your

kids wake them up and get them out the door. any parent will see, and i saw on the weekends, on snow day, school holidays. we had a happy family, kids had breakfast in the morning. we have morning that are miserable. getting them out of bed. they wouldn't eat breakfast. it was too early. and it was a challenge. >> when you hear 7:45 start time, a lot don't think of how you have to move back from the 7:45 date, hour to when the alarm clock goes off. to when it gulps something down, when they are at the bus stop, in the carpool. what time do they have to get up. school started at 7:20am. backing up. we get the kids out of bed.

maybe at 6:45. they never had brek past. >> it was too early for them. >> what is driving your children. >> a lot of kids are in high school. they'll drive themselves. my middle son told me how he is pinching it to get them to work, school, the 20 minutes to get to school. >> you mentioned it was 300 square miles. we have students. we try not to have it more than an hour. almost 200,000 students. if they are looking to move in the direction. they have a real movement. they are a tiny issue. i can tell you we have seen good results. i can't isolate a late start. the earlier guest talked about

nutrition, sleep and exercises. we agree. we have seen our out of school rates go from 1300 to 500. we have seen our attendance rates go up, the a.p. scores, state national and international averages. everything seems very promising for us, in terms of making the change. you are looking for evidence, not just anecdotal. we can give you data. >> we'll continue the conversation in a minute. you may be sitting home figuring this makes sense, why are things changing and changing fast. there are many challenges that make challenges. a tough call for systems across the country, growing body. sleeping heads, it's "inside story".

welcome back to "inside story", i'm ray suarez, the latest figures put the cost at $176 per square food. 140,000. a school bus costs more than $50,000, not counting the other cost involved in putting 1 on the road. there are pressures on school districts and families when you talk about when the school day starts. the school superintendent, sleep specialist are still with me. superintendent, you know, there are schools going into split sessions not because of pedagogy reasons, but are trying to make the building go further. >> space. >> these are real-life questions and in communities where they are not necessarily dying to have a tax increase. it's a real life change to make that school building do more work. >> i can tell you, it's drew, we are blessed to live in the city

of columbia, because it's a community that is incredibly educated and supports the public schools. it's not a problem. i can imagine that it is one. >> i heard in your show about the challenges. we have had some. something about the fact that we live far away from other major cities, and our kids play an sports teams for which they have to compete against other districts. we start later, but no one else in the state does. what it requires us to do is drive to the districts, and we have to leave a little early. we had to rely on, you know, districts may say we don't want to move forward with this because of those type of things, we think there are non-traditional ways that technology can bridge the caps. kids can have wi-fi on the buses or take a course at zero hour, a blended person, sometimes in person or online, allowing them not to take a class at the end

of the day. that's in terms of trying to use technology to help the students get action to the start and participate in the extracurriculars. >> there's a lot of pressure on, including work for many kids, are we asking too much of 16 and 17-year-olds, are they becoming adults. >> i think so. and i think it's something us, as teachers, educators, parents and the schoolboard have to ask questions and say how much are we going to allow our future to basically hurt themselves by not obtaining those things that are so important. so we have to answer the question and come up with the

ambulance. balanced sleep, good, healthy eating, exercise and education. >> do we know if we start the school day later, that the kids will go to sleep around the same time, and the net increase in the amount of sleep, or will they go to sleep later. >> right from a physiological component. what happens is teenagers prefer to go to bed later, waking up later, unlike adults. and only as they mature. it changes and it becomes more of a person, this is typical. teenagers like to wake up. and this - it's good for them. and the problem is when they fight societal forms, and toway wake up early and go to school, it wraecks havoc within their system.

>> it's too late for your own kids. are you seeing a change in attitude. as more parents need more evidence. >> people are more aware of it. they are paying attention to it more. it's an issue that has arisen. i'm talking about passing. no one wanted kids. it's filleded with red bull and caffeine. parents don't want to see that in their kids. they are beginning to understand what the benefits are, it's a more talked about issue around the country. when you pay attention to your own kids as with mine, the issue of will they stay up late, we have as many days in a row. they are happy. everybody is happy. i can tell you i have a student advisory, that was a question i asked them.

tell me about the late starts, are you staying up later now. the answer was no. i mean one was - well, yes, he does a lot of online gaming. >> they were so positive, it was great. >> we have to end it there. >> campaign for later start time. dr carmelo, an asleep specialist with the american academy of sleep medicine, and peter steepleman is the superintendent. i'll be back in a minute with a final word on the opening bells, and we'd love to hear from you on this or any other topic. send us your thoughts on twitter, aj, or follow me and get in touch, or visit our facebook page and tell us about your own experiences. we'd love to here us. stay with us, it's "inside story".

>> i've been asked to keep my voice down cause we are so close

as a commuting high schooler, i learnt the art of backtime, i knew when i had to be vertical, out of bed, when i had to be out of the door to make the train, to run down the stairs, across the campus and have my behinds in a chair by 8am. when the bell rang and my first class began, i watched my

high school commuter children do the same. that's usually the part of the story where someone says - and it didn't do me any parm. hamp. it was useful when i was a working taking the trains to work instead of school. let's be honest, there were plenty of days of a present body and absent mine. high school is harder, under a microscope. we load on testing, soaring college costs, encouraging students to work and as discussed earlier, multiple pressures pushed not for later opening, buts earlier, as parents we are seized by twin impulses to protect children and provide them with the best start and toughen them up for an unforgiving world. sending a teenager outs the door, it may do too little of the first and too much of the second. i'm ray suarez, and that's "inside story".

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