Over the last week the efforts for the national Start School Later initiative have been intense. This week, March 7th, this petition will be presented to Congress. You can see the press release copied below.
SUPPORT BY SIGNING PETITION NOW at http://signon.org/sign/promote-legislation-to.fb1?source=s.fb&r_by=1521139
400 more signatures are needed as of this moment. I support this initiative in part because many of my adult insomnia patients say that their sleep problems began as a teen, and I’d like to prevent that in the next generation. Thank you, Catherine
Grassroots Petition to Start School Later Goes to Washington for Sleep Week
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 1, 2012
CONTACTS
Annapolis, MD- Terra Ziporyn Snider, Ph.D., [email protected] 410-975-9759
Seattle, WA- Catherine Darley, ND, [email protected], 206-293-2899
Annapolis, MD. To honor National Sleep Awareness Week, a grassroots coalition of parents, teachers, and health professionals will begin delivering a petition advocating a minimum school start time of 8 a.m. to Congress and White House officials on Wednesday, March 7, 2012. The petition, garnering national attention, has signatures from all 50 states and Washington, DC and has fueled activity in local communities from Short Hills, NJ to Woodinville, WA.
“Most U.S. high schools today start in the 7 a.m. hour, a practice that began several decades ago primarily to save money on bus runs,” explains Terra Ziporyn Snider, Ph.D., a medical writer and the petition creator from Maryland who is also the mother of three. After more than a decade of work advocating for later start times in her local school system, Snider recounts, “Although evidence is crystal clear that starting later is best for health and learning, political obstacles and myths have made change virtually impossible in most districts.”
The petition effort has galvanized a national coalition of health professionals, sleep researchers, educators, parents, and other concerned citizens called Start School Later. The coalition has representation from 16 states and includes an advisory board comprised of notable sleep researchers, adolescent health care providers, and education leaders.
Voluminous research indicates that later school start time can lead to:
• Reduced sleep deprivation, depression, mood swings, and suicidal ideation
• Decreased stimulant abuse, weight gain, and diabetes risk
• Reduced early morning traffic accidents and drowsy driving by new teen drivers
• Improved safety by eliminating waiting or walking in dark, low visibility settings
• Reduced risky after-school behaviors in unsupervised adolescents
• Reduced truancy and absenteeism, and improve school performance
• Improved lifetime earnings potential, according to a recent study published by the Brookings Institute
Locally, in Washington state about 375people have signed this national petition.
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Signature totals and comments from Start School Later’s campaign: http://signon.org/sign/promote-legislation-to.fb1?source=s.fb&r_by=1521139
For more information on Start School Later: http://www.startschoollater.net/
Start School Later is a coalition of health professionals, sleep scientists, educators, parents, students, and other concerned citizens dedicated to increasing public awareness about the relationship between sleep and school hours and to ensuring school start times compatible with health, safety, education, and equity.