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Early classes can affect students’ performance

Written by: David Castillo on April 19th, 2011

Early classes can affect students’ performance | read this item

A recent study in the U.S. has found that teenaged drivers who have classes very early in the morning are more prone to getting involved in vehicular accidents. Researchers say that students may not be fully alert in the morning largely due to the fact that their schedules are bringing about loss of sleep and thus daytime fatigue.

Lead author of the study, Dr. Robert Vorona, explains that high school students who have classes in the afternoon may be more alert than their early bird counterparts. He adds that reason for this is that students who start school later in the morning or afternoon are able to get enough sleep the night before.

Vorona’s study, published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, is one of several studies which look at the link between school start times and student performance in both academics and outside the school environment. Meanwhile, another study advises school officials to delay start times by at least one hour in order to boost students’ levels of attention and performance especially during exams.