TAKE ACTION TODAY  

Protect Adolescent Mental Health with Later High School Start Times

Urge Your Legislators to Support This Important Legislation for Public Health  

Please urge your legislators to support Speaker Coughlin and Senator Gopal’s important proposed legislation on later school start times for high school students (A3816/S2462) and protect adolescent mental health! Our teens need this bill!

The American Academy of Pediatrics and many other professional health organizations advise middle and high schools start at 8:30 a.m. or later.

The research shows that starting high school at 8:30 AM or later improves mental health, physical health, and academic success among teenagers. New Jersey has the opportunity to make a real difference in our students’ lives by implementing healthy school hours across the state.

84% of high school students in NJ don't get enough sleep on school nights (minimum of 8 hours). When kids go through puberty, their biological clock shifts later. Teenagers’ bodies are in “sleep mode” from about 11 PM to 8 AM, which does not match with early school start times. This is about biology, and goes beyond healthy sleep habits like avoiding screens before bed. By starting high schools before 8:30 AM, we are preventing teens from getting the 8-10 hours of sleep they need to be healthy, happy, and successful.

As parents and caregivers, we have seen the toll that early school start times take on our children. The adverse effects of insufficient and poorly timed sleep in teens often cause real suffering and illness, and they can be heart-breaking and even life-threatening – including higher rates of car crashes, depression, anxiety, suicide, substance misuse, obesity, disruptive and risk-taking behavior, sleeping in class, inattention, tardiness, absenteeism, and dropping out.

According to health and medical experts, early secondary school start times are the primary modifiable cause of the adolescent sleep deprivation epidemic.

The science, research, and evidence all point in the same direction: later school start times lead to positive outcomes for adolescent students in terms of their physical health, mental wellness, safety, and achievement.

• We need this bill to pass because sleep deprivation in adolescents is a public health issue. 
• We need this bill to pass because the mental health crisis in our children has escalated to the point of being declared a national emergency. Supporting the sleep needs of our children is a critical proactive measure to protect mental health, especially during the adolescent period of development when the brain is particularly vulnerable.

Most importantly, we need this bill to pass because sleep is a basic health requirement, no different than food and water. Our children need adequate sleep, in order to thrive. It is the role of the state to protect this most basic health requirement just as we have laws to protect our children and their health in a multitude of other ways, such as child passenger safety laws, and laws about underage smoking and drinking.

Please contact your Legislators today to make sure they support this bill for all teens in New Jersey!  

Healthy start times work for families

Repeated studies show that more teens attend school – and on time – with later start times, regardless of their parents' work schedules. It's impossible for a school's start time to be convenient for all of New Jersey’s diverse work schedules, but it is possible for it to be healthier and safer for adolescents. While the state would mandate, with A3816 / S2462, that high schools not start before 8:30 a.m., local districts would be able to enact their own bell schedules to fit the community’s needs. Finally, because some of NJ’s high schools already start at 8:30 a.m. or later, we know it works for families, kids, and extracurriculars.

Our adolescents’ mental and physical health is at risk every day. This has been an unmet need for decades, and is now exacerbated by the unprecedented stress on adolescents due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has increased their risk of anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation.

Please act today.  Let Your Legislators Know that you’d like them to support the Coughlin/Gopal bills on later school start times (A3816/S2462)!

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