| The Bus Comes Too Early
by
Daniel J. Dyman, Ed.D.
It is still dark and would be for at least one more hour at 7:03 a.m. when the school bus goes by picking up youngsters on the way to school. That is unreasonable. However, according to the wisdom of those who can make a difference, the time zone needed to be changed from Eastern Standard to Eastern Daylight Saving. This was intended to provide for business opportunity and as well an evening for at least a partial round of golf or perhaps a fishing expedition of sorts.
By the way, those youngsters are most likely asleep and will stay asleep even with eyes open throughout much of the morning hours. We just do not get it. First, we want the kids to be successful in school. They do represent the future. But, we do not give them a chance because physiologically before daybreak, the melatonin level is still too high for them to be alert.
Melatonin is a neurochemical secreted by the pineal gland that induces sleep. In adults, it begins to accumulate at about 10:00 p.m. but in teenagers not until 1:00 a.m. This lag time of three hours maybe due to the visual stimulation of light from the playing of video games or it may be hormonal related. None the less, melatonin is gradually depleted during the hours of sleep, generally eight hours for adults and perhaps nine to ten hours for teenagers. With this in mind, teenagers will not mentally wake up until 10:00 a.m.
Interestingly, during a January, 2009, National Football League playoff game, a commentator said, “Some players are still asleep during the hours before an early start game and even during a portion of the first half. Note that these football players are considered to be adults and an early start game is one that begins at 1:00 p.m. Remarkable!
Let’s change the start time of school as has occurred in some presumably more enlightened communities. Maybe have two start times one earlier for those who can manage the morning and one later for those who require more of the usual morning for sleep. Learning can be so facilitated.
The problem becomes less significant if the instructional methods were changed to an individualized instruction format. In this configuration, students would be able to progress through the mainstream when most ready at their own pace, a pace that is most accommodating with for as needed opportunities to engage in personal dialog with teachers who could expand the learning into areas of interest. That too would be remarkable.
We do want the best learning opportunity for our students. At least we say we do.
Dyman Associates
27916 Crestview Drive
Elkhart, IN 46517
574.295.9098
http://www.DymanAssociates.com
Creation date : 22/01/2009 @ 20:23
Last update : 22/01/2009 @ 20:23
Category : Commentaries
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