TED | 孩子需要那么早上学吗?

演讲精彩片段（节选）欣赏

Advocates of sleep-friendly start times,and researchers in this area, have produced tremendous science showing the tremendous benefits of later start times. The findings are unequivocal, and as a sleep scientist, I rarely get to speak with that kind of certainty. Teens from districts with later start times get more sleep.

主张友善睡眠、延后上学时间的倡导者，以及这个领域的研究人员，已经产出大量的科学证据，显示延后上课时间具有巨大效益。这些发现是很明确的，身为一位睡眠科学家，我很少说出如此肯定的结论。实施延后上课的地区，青少年能得到更多的睡眠时间。

To the naysayers who may think that if schools start later, teens will just stay up later, the truth is,their bedtimes stay the same, but their wake-up times get extended, resulting in more sleep. They’re more likely to show up for school; school absences dropped by 25 percent in one district. And they’re less likely to drop out. Not surprisingly, they do better academically.

持反对意见者可能认为，如果学校延后上课时间，青少年也会较晚入睡；事实上， 他们入睡的时间并未改变，但是因为起床的时间延后了，所以睡眠更为充足。他们更愿意到学校上课，其中一个地区的学校旷课率下降了 25% 。因此学生更不会放弃课业。不出所料的，他们的课业表现也更好。

So this has real implications for reducing the achievement gap. Standardized test scores in math and reading go up by two to three percentage points. That’s as powerful as reducing class sizes by one-third fewer students, or replacing a so-so teacher in the classroom with a truly outstanding one.

所以这也对于减少成绩落差带来实际的效益。 在数学和阅读的标准化测验中，成绩也提升了两到三个百分点。 效果相当于将班级学生人数减少三分之一，或是以一位非常杰出的教师 取代原本教室里的普通老师。

Their mental and physical health improves, and even their families are happier. I mean, who wouldn’t enjoy a little more pleasantness from our teens, and a little less crankiness? Even their communities are safer because car crash rates go down - a 70 percent reduction in one district.

当学生的身心健康得到改善，甚至他们的家庭也会更加快乐。 我的意思是，有谁不喜欢 让我们的孩子拥有多一些快乐，以及少一些任性、焦躁呢？甚至，他们的小区变得更加安全，因为车祸肇事率下降了——其中一个地区甚至减少了 70% 。

Given these tremendous benefits, you might think, well, this is a no-brainer, right? So why have we as a society failed to heed this call? Often the argument against later start times goes something like this: “Why should we delay start times for teenagers? We need to toughen them up so they’re ready for the real world!” But that’s like saying to the parent of a two-year-old, “Don’t let Johnny nap, or he won’t be ready for kindergarten.”

看到这么多明显的效益， 您可能会认为，这是个显而易见的好主意，对吧？ 那为什么我们的社会 却不响应这个提议呢？ 反对延后上课时间的论点通常是这样的：「为什么要延后青少年的上课时间？ 我们需要的是锻炼他们， 让他们适应这个现实世界！」 但是这种说法，就像是对着 一位两岁幼儿的父母说： 「不要让钱宁睡午觉，否则他会无法适应幼儿园生活。」

Delaying start times also presents many logistical challenges. Not just for students and their families, but for communities as a whole. Updating bus routes, increased transportation costs, impact on sports, care before or after school. These are the same concerns that come up in district after district, time and again around the country as school start times are debated.

延后上课时间，也面临许多日常营运上的挑战。不仅仅是对于学生和他们的家庭，而是包含整个小区。 需要更改公交车路线，增加各种交通成本，影响课前与课后的运动时间与照顾服务。 当延后上课时间引发争论时， 这些问题也会在愈来愈多的学区， 甚至是全国各地一再出现。

And they’re legitimate concerns, but these are problems we have to work through. They are not valid excuses for failing to do the right thing for our children, which is to start middle and high schools no earlier than 8:30am. And in districts around the country, big and small, who have made this change, they found that these fears are often unfounded and far out weighed by the tremendous benefits for student health and performance, and our collective public safety.

这些关切是合理的，但也都是我们必须克服的问题。它们并不能成为失败的借口，去阻止我们为孩子作出正确的决定， 也就是将国、高中延后到 早上八点半开始上课。 而在全国大大小小的学区当中， 当他们愿意做出改变时，他们会发现这些恐惧往往毫无根据，取而代之的是巨大的效益， 例如学生的健康、 学业表现， 以及整体的公共安全。

So tomorrow morning, when coincidentally we get to set our clocks back by an hour and you get that delicious extra hour of sleep, and the day seems a little longer, and a little more full of hope, think about the tremendous power of sleep. And think about what a gift it would be for our children to be able to wake up naturally, in harmony with their own biology.

所以在明天早上，我们不约而同的把闹铃时间往后调一个小时，你会多得到一个小时甜美的睡眠，让你感觉到这一天似乎更长了，并且充满了更多的希望。想象一下睡眠带来的巨大效益，也想象一下，如果我们的孩子能够睡到自然醒，与他们自己的生理时钟一致，这将会是多么珍贵的礼物。