学生时期最痛苦的事情莫过于大清早从被窝中挣扎着起床、上学，不过，如今对于美国的学生来说，每天睡到自然醒已不再是梦。一些美国初、高中学校为了保障青少年的睡眠时间，让他们以饱满的精神状态迎接一天的学习，决定将学校上课时间推后45分钟！美利坚的花朵们太幸福了有木有！

 

为让学生睡饱 美国多所中学推迟上课时间

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

纽约市的多布斯费里仅拥有11000多人口，是典型的慵懒小镇，不过一件事情除外。

 

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

当学校的第一声铃声响起时，孩子们是完全清醒的。

 

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，多布斯费里校区加入了推迟上学时间的美国学校的队伍，这些学校现在还是少数但队伍正逐渐壮大，它们推迟初高中上学时间以免学生们无精打采。

 

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. 

大量睡眠科学研究表示，青春期前的儿童以及青少年是最缺乏睡眠的人群。实际上，他们在得到更多休息后可以在学校表现得更好。在这些研究的支持下，这些思想前卫的学校最终放过了疲惫的学生。

 

They're letting kids sleep in. 

他们让孩子们睡懒觉。

 

为让学生睡饱 美国多所中学推迟上课时间

What happens when you start later? 

晚些去上课会发生什么？

 

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. 

多布斯费里校长丽莎•布雷迪博士告诉商业内幕网说，在2015-2016学年前，中学生早上8点15开始上课，高中生早上7点30开始上课。新政策下，现在每个学校的上课和放学时间延后45分钟。布雷迪称，这两类学校都受益匪浅。

 

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." 

上一学年末发布了一份调查后，布雷迪称“大部分的家长和孩子都明确表示这样的早晨压力更小。”

 

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. 

据报道，许多孩子有更多的时间吃早饭，准备上学，而家长称他们不需要把孩子从床上拽起来或者吼他们动作快点。一旦学生们到了学校，他们感觉思维更敏捷。即使新的课程表延后了45分钟，晚上他们往往还是在原来的时间睡觉。

 

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. 

在过去几年里，这一趋势开始发展壮大。“晚点上学”游说团体的员工汇编了延迟上学的美国学校和地区名单，该名单在不断发展，到目前为止，已经有44个州的学校榜上有名。

 

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. 

其中一家是位于宾西法尼亚州新希望镇的索尔伯瑞中学。教务主任瑞克•托尼推动了该校传统课程表的一系列强有力的改革。

 

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. 

索尔博瑞是一所私立寄宿日间学校，从本学年开始，这里的孩子们早上8点30才开始上课。星期三是早上9点上课。这比过去几年晚了整整一小时，以前8点就准时响起第一次铃声。

 

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. 

同时，该校还把6节50分钟的课程改为4节80分钟的课程。托尼表示，因为留作业的老师比以前少了，即使孩子们回家的时间稍微晚点，但他们仍可以在夜晚享受欢乐时光。

 

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

他告诉商业内幕网说，“每次我们寻求反馈时，积极和消极回应的比例是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. 

托尼也是一名数学老师，他说虽然新课程表仅仅执行了1个月，但他的学生的学业表现已经在稳定提升。现在，孩子们在学校里看起来更轻松，因为他们不用再一大早就要应付诸多课业。

 

为让学生睡饱 美国多所中学推迟上课时间

The downsides of delaying start times 

推迟上学时间的消极方面

 

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

推迟上学时间的消极反应很少，但也确实存在。

 

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. 

布雷迪称，多布斯费里的一些家长发现他们更加难以在完成早上的例行任务后仍然准时上班。托尼也称，索尔博瑞中学的问题是为孩子们找到足够的校车。在这两种情况中，校方表示家长们可以选择在学校第一次响铃之前就把孩子送来，这样他们可以有时间吃早饭，为电子设备充电或者四处走走。

 

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. 

布兰迪还发现在体育活动和课后社团方面也面临着挑战。在前几年，球队外出去参加客场比赛没什么问题。但现在他们能花在路上的时间变少了，而且还面临着更糟的交通状况。

 

"The kids feel really rushed," she says. 

她说，“孩子们真的感到很匆忙。”

 

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. 

许多人表示，最终到家后，写作业的时间更短了。布雷迪表示，学校正在集体研究制定和索尔博瑞中学相似的课程安排。

 

英文来源：商业内幕网，中国日报网