Lie-in for teenagers has positive results

A school that has allowed its pupils to start the day an hour later says it has seen absenteeism decline.

Young people's body clocks may shift as they reach their teenage years - meaning they want to get up later not because they are lazy but because they are biologically programmed to do. This is because a hormone called melatonin, which promotes sleep, is secreted at a different time in adolescent brains, making them sleepy late in the evening.

Mr Kelley said: "We can help them learn better. We can help them be less stressed by simply changing the time of the school day". He said that this in turn could change ideas about young people in general." This is one of the things society has imposed on teens because it feels right for us. [adults]," he said. But now we know the implications of this situation, he said: "We can change provision for teenagers and we are going to have happier, better educated teenagers."

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