Setting school start times a bit later than 7.30 AM might prove to be a good way for those in charge of the educational system to reduce daytime sleepiness among children, increase their ability to accumulate new information, and, most importantly, reduce the number of car crashes teens get into over not much nightly sleep. Delaying the daily program by as little as one hour can have very beneficial effects on children's health and help them concentrate better at the task at hand.

Many high schools in the United States begin their normal program at 7.30, whereas some start as late as 9 AM. This type of difference is clearly visible in the amount of time kids attending these schools sleep. A simple analysis will tell us that those who start at 9 o'clock sleep at least 1 hour more than those who have to be at school by half past seven.

On account of them sleeping longer, students can focus better on what they are taught and can accumulate knowledge easier than their peers who get very little sleep. Also, for those who drive a car, more sleep has been directly linked to a significant decrease in the number of car crashes they are involved in.

UK Healthcare Good Samaritan Sleep Center director Barbara Phillips, MD, the author of the new study, detailing the relations between sleep, ability to learn, and driving manner, believes that fewer accidents occur simply because teens are no longer sleepy, and they can literally keep their eyes on the road.

Her paper, entitled Adolescent Sleep, School Start Times, and Teen Motor Vehicle Crashes, which was published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, also states that teens sleep less because, with age, they are starting to stay awake until very late, watching movies or playing on their PCs. So schools should be prepared to handle the increasing pressure, by modifying their start times. "It is surprising that high schools continue to set their start times early, which impairs learning, attendance and driving safety of the students," Phillips concludes.