Schools
This Week’s Goal: 1,000 Names on Petition for Later High School Start Time
Support for the petition is growing and a coalition of parents, teachers, students and others is forming—along with a new website.
*Submitted to Patch by Terra Snider
Our petition for sane/humane school hours is closing in on 1,000 names from all over the country as word spreads via social media. If we get 5,000 names by mid-January, we plan to present the petition to legislators in Washington, DC to jump start a national conversation on this critical issue undermining the health and well-being of our children and community.
Signers so far include nurse and educator Lisa Ehrlichman, state chair of adolescent health for the California School Nurses Organization; and the University of Kentucky’s Dr. Barbara Phillips and Fred Danner, PhD, who published a study linking early school hours to automobile accidents. Other prominent supporters include pediatrician Dr. Lynn Keefe, who is leading an effort for later high school start times in Okaloosa County, FL, and Dr. Xue (“Sue”) Ming, PhD, first author of a study linking early school hours and inadequate sleep to poor school performance.
The earlier version of the petition was also mentioned in a Time Ideas’ article by Harvard’s Nicholas and Erika Christakis. This article asks why it’s so hard to switch to later start times despite abundant evidence that doing so would improve teen learning and well-being.
Meanwhile, parents, teachers, students and other citizen activists from around the country are joining our efforts. Anne Arundel County still leads the pack, but we’re getting increasing support from communities including Howard County, MD; Greenfield, WI; Fairfax County, VA; St. Louis, MO; Barrington, RI; Northampton, MA; Tampa/St. Petersburg, FL; Okaloosa County, FL; Bellevue, WA; Woodinville, WA; and Temecula, CA. Many petitioners are adding heartbreaking comments that show this is an issue of public health, safety and equity as much as education. You can read these by going to the petition link:
http://signon.org/sign/promote-legislation-to.fb1?source=s.fb&r_by=1521139
We’re also putting together a coalition of parents, teachers, students, doctors, nurses, sleep researchers and policy analysts to promote a national conversation on this issue. To see what’s happening, check out just launched website put together by Maribel Ibrahim: StartSchoolLater.weebly.com.
Finally, I can’t thank this community enough for all your help and support spreading the word. If you haven’t already signed the new version of the petition, please take a minute to add your name (it’s much easier to sign than the WhiteHouse.gov version).
Please also consider sending an email to friends with the link and/or posting it on your Facebook page. Just getting other family members,spouses, parents, brothers, sisters, etc. to sign could multiply numbers in a single evening!
*Editor's Note: Severna Park Patch first ran a Later High School Start Times post on Oct. 13. Another followed on Nov. 15. A Patch poll brought in 277 responses, with 84 percent in favor of later high school start times.
The topic attracted the attention of the local community and beyond, including other Patch sites in other parts of the country.
Signers so far include nurse and educator Lisa Ehrlichman, state chair of adolescent health for the California School Nurses Organization; and the University of Kentucky’s Dr. Barbara Phillips and Fred Danner, PhD, who published a study linking early school hours to automobile accidents. Other prominent supporters include pediatrician Dr. Lynn Keefe, who is leading an effort for later high school start times in Okaloosa County, FL, and Dr. Xue (“Sue”) Ming, PhD, first author of a study linking early school hours and inadequate sleep to poor school performance.
The earlier version of the petition was also mentioned in a Time Ideas’ article by Harvard’s Nicholas and Erika Christakis. This article asks why it’s so hard to switch to later start times despite abundant evidence that doing so would improve teen learning and well-being.
Meanwhile, parents, teachers, students and other citizen activists from around the country are joining our efforts. Anne Arundel County still leads the pack, but we’re getting increasing support from communities including Howard County, MD; Greenfield, WI; Fairfax County, VA; St. Louis, MO; Barrington, RI; Northampton, MA; Tampa/St. Petersburg, FL; Okaloosa County, FL; Bellevue, WA; Woodinville, WA; and Temecula, CA. Many petitioners are adding heartbreaking comments that show this is an issue of public health, safety and equity as much as education. You can read these by going to the petition link:
http://signon.org/sign/promote-legislation-to.fb1?source=s.fb&r_by=1521139
We’re also putting together a coalition of parents, teachers, students, doctors, nurses, sleep researchers and policy analysts to promote a national conversation on this issue. To see what’s happening, check out just launched website put together by Maribel Ibrahim: StartSchoolLater.weebly.com.
Finally, I can’t thank this community enough for all your help and support spreading the word. If you haven’t already signed the new version of the petition, please take a minute to add your name (it’s much easier to sign than the WhiteHouse.gov version).
Please also consider sending an email to friends with the link and/or posting it on your Facebook page. Just getting other family members,spouses, parents, brothers, sisters, etc. to sign could multiply numbers in a single evening!
*Editor's Note: Severna Park Patch first ran a Later High School Start Times post on Oct. 13. Another followed on Nov. 15. A Patch poll brought in 277 responses, with 84 percent in favor of later high school start times.
The topic attracted the attention of the local community and beyond, including other Patch sites in other parts of the country.
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