🥳 Five-Day School Week and Sleeping Until Nine. Analyzing the Pros and Cons of a Late Start

School is back in the news. State Duma deputies have proposed moving the start of lessons to a later time—after 9 a.m. They also want to establish a five-day school week to ease the burden on children who are already studying under intense workloads.

The initiative was supported by 54% of readers of the GARANT.RU portal—more than half, but there are also many opponents. Supporters cite health: children don't get enough sleep, and scientists have long proven that teenagers' biorhythms simply don't align with early wake-ups.

Opponents emphasize logistics: parents can't get to work on time, schools operate in two shifts, and after-school programs and clubs are still tied to the afternoon.
It's all about melatonin—the sleep hormone. In children under 10, it is produced early in the evening, so they easily fall asleep at 9 p.m. and wake up at 7 a.m.

⁉️ But in teenagers (11–17 years), melatonin production shifts about two hours later. That means at 10 p.m., they still "don't want to sleep" according to their biological clock, and at 7 a.m., their body is in a deep sleep phase.

Waking them at this time is like waking you up at 4 a.m. The brain doesn't turn on, attention is scattered, and the first lessons are wasted.

And of course, the realities: transportation, adult schedules)

👉 We help adjust "circadian rhythms" via this link