爲讓學生睡飽 美國多所中學推遲上課時間

With a population of just over 11,000, Dobbs Ferry, New York is your typical sleepy town, except for one thing.

紐約市的多布斯費裏僅擁有11000多人口，是典型的慵懶小鎮，不過一件事情除外。

When the first school bell rings, kids are wide awake.

當學校的第一聲鈴聲響起時，孩子們是完全清醒的。

Last September, Dobbs Ferry School District joined a small but growing cluster of schools around the US that have started pushing back their middle and high school start times in an effort to combat student grogginess.

去年9月，多布斯費裏校區加入了推遲上學時間的美國學校的隊伍，這些學校現在還是少數但隊伍正逐漸壯大，它們推遲初高中上學時間以免學生們無精打采。

Bolstered by a mountain of sleep science research that says pre-teens and teenagers are some of the most sleep-deprived people and would actually do better in school with more rest, these forward-thinking schools are finally cutting worn-out students a break.

大量睡眠科學研究表示，青春期前的兒童以及青少年是最缺乏睡眠的人羣。實際上，他們在得到更多休息後可以在學校表現得更好。在這些研究的支持下，這些思想前衛的學校最終放過了疲憊的學生。

They're letting kids sleep in.

他們讓孩子們睡懶覺。

What happens when you start later?

晚些去上課會發生什麼？

Dobbs Ferry Superintendent Dr. Lisa Brady tells Business Insider that prior to the 2015-2016 school year, middle schoolers started at 8:15 a.m. and high schoolers at 7:30 a.m. Under the new policy, each school now starts and ends 45 minutes later. Both schools have experienced tremendous benefits, Brady says.

多布斯費裏校長麗莎.布雷迪博士告訴商業內幕網說，在2015-2016學年前，中學生早上8點15開始上課，高中生早上7點30開始上課。新政策下，現在每個學校的上課和放學時間延後45分鐘。布雷迪稱，這兩類學校都受益匪淺。

Following a survey issued at the end of the last school year, Brady says "it was clear from both the parents and the kids, overwhelmingly, that the mornings were just less stressful."

上一學年末發佈了一份調查後，布雷迪稱“大部分的家長和孩子都明確表示這樣的早晨壓力更小。”

Many of the kids reported having more time to eat breakfast and get ready for school, while parents said they didn't have to drag kids out of bed or yell at them to hurry up. Once students got to school, they felt more alert. At night, they tended to reported going to bed at the same time, even though the new schedule freed up an extra 45 minutes.

據報道，許多孩子有更多的時間吃早飯，準備上學，而家長稱他們不需要把孩子從牀上拽起來或者吼他們動作快點。一旦學生們到了學校，他們感覺思維更敏捷。即使新的課程表延後了45分鐘，晚上他們往往還是在原來的時間睡覺。

The trend has been building steam for the past few years. At the advocacy group Start School Later, employees have been compiling an ongoing list of US schools and districts that have made the move to push back the first bell. So far, schools in 44 states have jumped onboard.

在過去幾年裏，這一趨勢開始發展壯大。“晚點上學”遊說團體的員工彙編了延遲上學的美國學校和地區名單，該名單在不斷髮展，到目前爲止，已經有44個州的學校榜上有名。

One of those is Solebury School, in New Hope, Pennsylvania, where Director of Studies Rick Tony has pushed for a robust set of changes to the typical school schedule.

其中一家是位於賓西法尼亞州新希望鎮的索爾伯瑞中學。教務主任瑞克.託尼推動了該校傳統課程表的一系列強有力的改革。

Beginning this academic year, kids at Solebury, a private boarding and day school, don't start until 8:30 a.m. On Wednesdays, it's 9:00 a.m. That's a full hour later than in years past, when the first bell sounded promptly at 8.

索爾博瑞是一所私立寄宿日間學校，從本學年開始，這裏的孩子們早上8點30纔開始上課。星期三是早上9點上課。這比過去幾年晚了整整一小時，以前8點就準時響起第一次鈴聲。

At the same time, the school also moved from six 50-minute classes to four 80-minute classes. With fewer teachers to assign homework, Tony says, kids can still enjoy their nights even if they get home slightly later.

同時，該校還把6節50分鐘的課程改爲4節80分鐘的課程。託尼表示，因爲留作業的老師比以前少了，即使孩子們回家的時間稍微晚點，但他們仍可以在夜晚享受歡樂時光。

"Every time we ask for feedback, the results come back 10 to 1, positive to negative," he tells Business Insider.

他告訴商業內幕網說，“每次我們尋求反饋時，積極和消極迴應的比例是10比1。”

Tony is also a math teacher, and he says his students already produce better work on a more consistent basis, even though the schedule is just a month old. Around the campus, kids seem more relaxed now that they're not juggling as much work as early in the day.

託尼也是一名數學老師，他說雖然新課程表僅僅執行了1個月，但他的學生的學業表現已經在穩定提升。現在，孩子們在學校裏看起來更輕鬆，因爲他們不用再一大早就要應付諸多課業。

The downsides of delaying start times

推遲上學時間的消極方面

Negative responses to later start times are rare, but they do happen.

推遲上學時間的消極反應很少，但也確實存在。

Brady says some parents at Dobbs Ferry have found it harder to complete the necessary morning rituals and still get to work on time. Meanwhile, Tony says the issue at Solebury is finding enough buses for kids. In both cases, the officials say parents have the option to drop their kids off at school before the first bell so they can eat breakfast, charge their devices, or just hang out.

布雷迪稱，多布斯費裏的一些家長髮現他們更加難以在完成早上的例行任務後仍然準時上班。託尼也稱，索爾博瑞中學的問題是爲孩子們找到足夠的校車。在這兩種情況中，校方表示家長們可以選擇在學校第一次響鈴之前就把孩子送來，這樣他們可以有時間吃早飯，爲電子設備充電或者四處走走。

Brady has also found challenges with athletics and after-school clubs. In years prior, teams had no trouble getting to away games. Now they have less time to get there, and they have to deal with worse traffic.

布蘭迪還發現在體育活動和課後社團方面也面臨着挑戰。在前幾年，球隊外出去參加客場比賽沒什麼問題。但現在他們能花在路上的時間變少了，而且還面臨着更糟的交通狀況。

"The kids feel really rushed," she says.

她說，“孩子們真的感到很匆忙。”

Once they finally get home, many say they have less time for all the homework they've been assigned. Brady says the school is brainstorming changes to the school day similar to those made at Solebury.

許多人表示，最終到家後，寫作業的時間更短了。布雷迪表示，學校正在集體研究制定和索爾博瑞中學相似的課程安排。