Later start time decreasing absenteeism in high school students

Don'cha wish we knew this when we were in high school!

(Oh who am I kidding? North Carolina's government is so bass-ackwards on everything, the concept would never even get the chance to fly here...)

Anyway, an experiment being conducted by an Oxford neuroscience professor at Monkseaton High School in North Tyneside in Great Britain has had students starting classes an hour later than usual, at 10 a.m. The remarkable findings of the experiment thus far are that the later class time has caused an 8% drop in general absence and a 27% drop in chronic absenteeism. Furthermore, memory testing done on the students indicate that the best time for learning more difficult lessons is in the afternoon. Researchers believe that teenagers wanting to sleep in is not a matter of laziness, but merely a component of biology adjusting during the adolescent years.

(Or maybe it's just that they're staying up at later hours playing World of Warcraft? :-P)

Read More

Can you hear this?

Chris Fettig found something really kewl. It's a 2006 story from National Public Radio about a special high-frequency sound - which most teenagers can hear but not most adults - that storekeepers in Great Britain have been using to keep young people from loitering in their stores. Well, now the kids are using that same sound as a ringtone on their cellphones... which lets them know while in class that they've a text message. The teachers can't hear it but the teens can!

Well, supposedly adults can't hear this. Because I'm in my early thirties and I've heard it clear as a bell every time that I've played this: it's a very high-pitch buzzing sound that might give you a headache if you listen to it for too long. Want to try it for yourself? Take a listen to it right here!

Read More