To Keep Teenagers Alert, Schools Let Them Sleep In.

[Igel]

9. Point missed.

It's not just that they're too "engaged" in extracurricular activities until late. Or even have jobs that keep them out until 10 or 11 or midnight.

It's that for most teens, their circadian rhythms tell them to be awake at 10 pm, 11 pm, and alert. And then to sleep.

This changes with age. Younger kids tend to wake up earlier, for instance, much to their parents annoyance. I'd happily be up at 7 a.m or earlier when I was 6 or 7. My own kid drove us crazy until about a year or two ago.

So the young kids go to school late and the older kids have to get up and to school at dawn for much of the year. That's because nobody wanted their elementary-school kids walking to school in the dark. Nobody walks any more. Flip the times.