MVHS is a competitive environment — it’s not exactly a secret. But when did lack of sleep become a competition? Sleep deprivation is a serious issue, and it’s no surprise that many MVHS students are suffering. That’s why, over the last month, a petition created by parent Sharlene Liu to delay FUHSD school start times has been gaining quite a lot of support. Many students believe the change will positively affect students, though some think day-to-day life will be negatively affected. School psychologist Sheila Altmann shares her opinions on changing start times and the health benefits of doing so.

Interview highlights from psychologist Sheila Altmann:

1:20-1:43
The fact is, teenagers actually need more sleep, and they also have a later biological clock. So, scientific research shows that… their bio rhythm is to stay up later and then sleep later in the morning.

2:05-2:35
Sleep deprivation has very profound effects on everybody. So a lack of sleep… leads to problems with attention, being able to maintain your attention and focus. It, obviously, affects your ability to be alert. It can impact your memory, because things don’t… get absorbed down to a deeper level of the cortex.

3:55-4:33
Having a later start time in the morning and maybe going later in the afternoon would be a better fit for some people… So, it would be nice, in an ideal world, if you could accommodate both– people could choose. You could have an earlier start schedule and a later start schedule.

5:57-6:28
Turn everything else off. Remove all distractions. Close your door, maybe even put on some sort of calm, relaxing music to screen out other sounds and things that are going on, and spend thirty minutes just focusing on your work. Then, taking a real break… Give yourself a ten minute refresher break.

8:11-8:26
Sometimes there’s this feeling that “Well… it’s the weekend, so now I can stay up all night.” And they do stay up really late… but now, again, your bio rhythm is off.

12:00-12:21
What do we do with kids when we’re trying to get kids and babies to go to sleep? We have a bedtime routine, right? We give them… a nice warm bath, we give them a snack so their tummies are full. Sit and read a book. All of those relaxing things, right?

12:23-12:30
If you’re listening to heavy metal music, you can’t just jump into bed and go “now I’m gonna sleep.”

Getting your sleep schedule back on track, according to Sheila Altmann

[list style=”arrow-right”] [li]Spend one weekend where you try to get back into a healthy sleep cycle, then continue diligently with that routine. [/li] [li]Be really efficient during the day so you can get in bed earlier.[/li] [li]Give yourself an hour after school to decompress, then start your homework and work without distractions (social media). Every half-hour/hour or so, give yourself a 10 minute break. [/li] [li]Give yourself something fun to do at the end of the day, when all your homework is finished.
No electronics right before bed– the light they produce wires our brains to be alert.[/li] [/list]