高中生10點上學(xué)更好
The rethink on teen slumber is largely due to the emerging science on circadian rhythms. The genetics associated with body clocks earned this year’s Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine. The timing of release of the sleep hormone melatonin is thought to change with age: during adolescence, secretion begins late at night and continues until about 8am. The sleep rhythm of a teenager can lag an adult by two to three hours. 重新思考青少年的睡眠問題，在很大程度上是因為新興的晝夜節(jié)律科學(xué)。與生物鐘有關(guān)的基因研究贏得了今年的諾貝爾生理學(xué)或醫(yī)學(xué)獎(Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine)。人體釋放睡眠荷爾蒙——褪黑激素的時間據(jù)信會隨著年齡改變：在青春期，褪黑激素在深夜開始釋放并持續(xù)到早上8點左右。青少年的睡眠節(jié)律可能比成年人晚兩到三個小時。
蘭德公司(Rand Corporation)的一份報告認(rèn)為，把青少年的上學(xué)時間推遲到8點30分或更晚，有望在未來15年給美國經(jīng)濟(jì)帶來1400億美元的效益。美國一些學(xué)校早上7點就開始上課了。
A report by the Rand Corporation argues that, for adolescents, delaying the start of school to 8.30am or later could bring a $140bn benefit to the US economy over 15 years. Some US school days start as early as 7am. 這項收益——相當(dāng)于每年93億美元——主要來自兩個預(yù)計回報：一是學(xué)習(xí)成績提高，從而增加畢業(yè)和未來就業(yè)的可能性;二是車禍?zhǔn)鹿蕼p少，這意味著會有更多學(xué)生安好地加入未來的勞動力隊伍。
The gains, which amount to a dividend of $9.3bn a year, arise mainly from two predicted pay-offs: improved academic performance, which increases the likelihood of graduation and future work; and a reduction in car crashes, which means more students make it into the future labour supply. 蘭德的經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家馬爾科•哈夫納(Marco Hafner)表示，因為計算效益時偏向保守，所以實際效益可能更高。宏觀經(jīng)濟(jì)模擬的輸入沒有考慮其他現(xiàn)象，比如自殺和肥胖風(fēng)險——據(jù)信睡眠不足會加劇這類風(fēng)險。
Marco Hafner, a Rand economist, says the gains could be even higher because the calculation of benefits were on the conservative side. The input to the macroeconomic simulation did not factor in other phenomena, such as the risks of suicide and obesity that are believed to be exacerbated by sleep deprivation. 蘭德利用美國47個州的數(shù)據(jù)得出結(jié)論認(rèn)為，青少年睡眠不足應(yīng)該被視為一個可能解決的經(jīng)濟(jì)問題。該公司表示，經(jīng)濟(jì)回報將很快超過解決該問題的相關(guān)成本，比如重新安排公交車時間表，或延長課外興趣小組的時間。
Rand, which used data from 47 US states, concluded that teenage sleep deprivation should be regarded as an economic problem with a possible solution. The financial rewards, it says, would quickly outweigh any associated costs of fixing it, such as rescheduling bus routes or extending after-school clubs. 在美國，各方擔(dān)憂青少年“睡眠不足”——建議每晚睡眠8-10個小時——已經(jīng)有一段時間了。
There have been concerns about “insufficient sleep” among adolescents – the recommendation is between eight and 10 hours per night – for some time in the US. 2014年，美國兒科學(xué)會(American Academy of Pediatrics)發(fā)表政策聲明，承認(rèn)“青少年睡眠不足是一個重要的公共衛(wèi)生問題，對我國初中和高中學(xué)生的健康和安全、以及學(xué)習(xí)成績有顯著影響”。
In 2014, the American Academy of Paediatrics published a policy statement recognising “insufficient sleep in adolescents as an important public health issue that significantly affects the health and safety, as well as the academic success, of our nation’s middle and high school students”. 推遲上學(xué)時間的試驗已經(jīng)展現(xiàn)了一些好處，比如睡眠時間增加(孩子們似乎會在同樣的時間睡覺，但起床時間更晚)、思維更加敏捷、出勤率提高以及情緒更好。這使得美國兒科學(xué)會明確支持這項改革。
Trials of delayed school start times have shown benefits such as increased sleep (children seem to go to bed at the same time but wake later), increased alertness, higher attendance and better mood. This led the academy to give its unequivocal backing for change. 然而，旨在落實這一改革的法案最近在加利福尼亞州不了了之。該法案得到了由家長、健康專家和政策制定者組成的游說組織“晚點上學(xué)”(Start School Later)運動的支持，有可能2018年1月重新出爐。其他州的很多學(xué)校已經(jīng)采取行動。
Last month, however, a bill designed to enact such a change faltered in California. The bill, which has the backing of the Start School Later movement, a lobby group of parents, health professionals and policymakers, is likely to resurface in January. Many schools in other states have already acted. 明尼蘇達(dá)大學(xué)(University of Minnesota)的教育政策專家、從1996年開始研究該問題的凱拉•瓦爾斯特龍(Kyla Wahlstrom)表示，所有證據(jù)都表明青少年睡眠規(guī)律是生理學(xué)(而非態(tài)度)造成的。
All the evidence points to teen sleeping patterns being a consequence of biology, not attitude, according to Kyla Wahlstrom, an educational policy specialist at the University of Minnesota, who has studied this issue since 1996. 瓦爾斯特龍博士表示，推遲上學(xué)時間可以帶來立即而明顯的影響，比如青少年車禍率降低。在把上學(xué)時間推遲一個小時后，肯塔基州某縣兩年期間的青少年車禍數(shù)量減少了16%，這被歸因于司機(jī)的精神更集中。同期肯塔基州全州的車禍增加了8%。
Delayed start times, Dr Wahlstrom says, have immediate and noticeable impacts, such as a reduced rate of teenage car crashes. One county in Kentucky saw the number of teenage crashes fall by 16 per cent in the two years after school starts were delayed by an hour, a reduction attributed to the drivers being more alert. The crash rate rose by 8 per cent across the state as a whole. 與美國兒科學(xué)會一樣，美國醫(yī)學(xué)會(American Medical Association)和美國疾病控制預(yù)防中心(Centers for Disease Control)也支持這一改革。據(jù)信全美已有大約250所學(xué)校為落實相關(guān)建議而重新設(shè)計了課程表。
As well as the AAP, the American Medical Association and the Centers for Disease Control in the US, support such a change. About 250 US schools are thought to have redesigned their schedules to accommodate the recommendations. 類似辯論也在英國升溫。2015年，牛津大學(xué)(University of Oxford)睡眠和晝夜節(jié)律神經(jīng)科學(xué)研究所(Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute)教授保羅•凱利(Paul Kelley)建議，16歲學(xué)生的上學(xué)時間不應(yīng)早于上午10點。對于18歲的學(xué)生，11點上學(xué)更好。他表示，過早上學(xué)通常意味著學(xué)生表現(xiàn)欠佳。
A similar debate has been stirring in the UK. In 2015, Paul Kelley, a professor at the Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute at Oxford university, suggested that 16-year-olds should start no earlier than 10am. For 18-year-olds, an 11am start is preferable. Early starts, he says, mean pupils are usually performing suboptimally. 并非所有人都同意該結(jié)論：薩里大學(xué)(Surrey University)和哈佛大學(xué)(Harvard University)的科學(xué)家質(zhì)疑推遲上學(xué)時間將導(dǎo)致青少年睡眠時間增加的結(jié)論。例如，一個意外后果可能是因為上床睡覺時間推遲，學(xué)生們暴露在人造燈光下的時間更長。
Not everyone concurs: scientists at the universities of Surrey and Harvard dispute that delayed starts will lead to teenagers getting more sleep. One unintended consequence, for example, might be students being exposed to artificial light for longer because of later bedtimes. 這項相反的研究基于數(shù)學(xué)建模，它似乎表明，晚上早些關(guān)燈就可以讓青少年的睡眠時間增加，而無需改變上學(xué)時間。在青少年睡眠研究中，學(xué)生們花在手機(jī)及其他設(shè)備上的時間也經(jīng)常會冒出來，成為一個使問題復(fù)雜化的因素。
Based on mathematical modelling, this contrary study suggested that turning down the lights in the evening would allow teenagers to get more sleep without the need for a change to the school day. The time that students spend on their mobile phones and other devices also crops up regularly as a complicating factor in teenage sleep studies. 盡管如此，倫敦一家私立學(xué)校的校長選擇把高中生的上學(xué)時間推遲到早上9點30分。喬納森•泰勒(Jonathan Taylor)在為《泰晤士報教育增刊》(Times Educational Supplement)撰寫的文章中解釋了自己的決定，他指出，朝九晚五的工作模式反正將要終結(jié)。他指責(zé)那些堅持早上學(xué)的教育家是出于“自律這種具有誤導(dǎo)性的傳統(tǒng)理念……難道早上8點30分學(xué)數(shù)學(xué)，就一定比下午5點學(xué)數(shù)學(xué)更有價值嗎?”
Nevertheless, one London head of an independent school has chosen to push back the start of the day for sixth-formers to 9.30am. Explaining his decision in an article for the Times Educational Supplement, Jonathan Taylor pointed out that the 9-to-5 mode of working was disappearing anyhow. He criticised educators who clung to an early start out of “a misguided notion of traditional self-discipline . . . is it really more worthy to learn maths at 8.30am than 5pm?” 泰勒興奮地表示，推遲上學(xué)時間后，學(xué)生的出勤率提高，遲到率下降，而且青少年們更容易相處了。天知道，我們都需要更快樂的青少年。
Attendance and punctuality, Mr Taylor enthused, had improved – and the teenagers made for jollier company. Heaven knows, we could all do with happier teens.
