Picture of the outside of Columbia High School

Link to Annotated Bibliography

Source:

Dunster, Gideon P., et al. “What Time Should Middle and High School Students Start School?” Journal of Biological Rhythms, vol. 34, no. 6, Dec. 2019, pp. 576–78. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1177/0748730419892118. Accessed on 11 September 2022

Summary:

In the article, “What Time Should Middle and High School Students Start School?” Gideon P. Dunster expresses the effects of sleep deprivation on high school teenagers. Dunster expands on a survey that found that 90% of adolescents do not get the recommended amount of sleep which is eight to ten hours. This is due to the biological clock which delays during puberty, pushing support to stay awake later into the night. Evidence shows that early school start times are to blame for teenagers’ lack of sufficient sleep. Dunster goes on to explain that this is associated with heightened stress, irritability, anxiety and depression. Dunster states that a way to fix this everlasting problem would be a “l delay in middle and high school start times to start no earlier than 0830 h” (Dunster). He believes that this would offer a chance for these teens to sleep in line with their natural circadian rhythm. Dunster finishes off by explaining why changing start times is challenging such as, the expensive bus schedule changes and extracurricular activities. (Dunster et al. 576-578)

Reflection: 

This source was written by professors from a variety of Universities in biology and psychiatry departments which I feel makes it reliable. This article includes information learned from studies conducted. I think that the authors did a good job with including the facts, possible fixes and why those changes are difficult to execute. The argumentative side of this article will be helpful for me to disengage this argument in my paper. This view will add depth to my argument paper and show the other side of the argument. This article also provides valuable knowledge that will help readers understand the issue. This article doesn’t provide in depth information or arguments about the affect on mental health but is still very useful. 

Source:

Meltzer, Lisa J., et al. “COVID-19 Instructional Approaches (in-Person, Online, Hybrid), School Start Times, and Sleep in over 5,000 U.S. Adolescents.” Sleep (New York, N.Y.), vol. 44, November, 12, 2021, p. 1–, https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsab180. Accessed on 11 September 2022. 

Summary:

In “COVID- 19 Instructional Approaches (in-Person, Online, Hybrid), School Start Times, and Sleep in over 5,000 U.S. Adolescents” the authors studied sleep patterns of teens attending public school versus those that are homeschooled. They found that public school kids on average got less sleep than those who were homeschooled. They also researched the difference in sleep patterns between in-person and online school days. This study found that “In-person wake times were the earliest, followed by online/synchronous days (Meltzer et al.).”  This also found that the opportunity for sleep was longer for synchronous and weekends than for in person school days. 

Reflection:

I believe this article is reliable because it was written by a team of researchers who conducted research on sleep habits in adolescents. All the authors have graduated from medical schools across the country including Harvard and Alpert Medical School of Brown University. This will support my argument that early start times in high school is leading to poor mental health in this detrimental state of life. I will use their data analysis to back up my claims, this will not add to my solution but will provide good background knowledge. Unlike the article by Dunster et al. this expands on the mental effects of sleep deprivation on teenagers throughout the years.