It's six o'clock in the morning, pitch black outside.
早上六点钟，外面仍然一片漆黑。
My 14-year-old son is fast asleep in his bed, sleeping the reckless, deep sleep of a teenager.
我十四岁的儿子在床上熟睡着，这个十几岁的小子睡得又深又沉。
I flip on the light and physically shake the poor boy awake,
我打开灯，将这个可怜的男孩摇醒，
because I know that, like ripping off a Band-Aid, it's better to get it over with quickly.
因为我知道，长痛不如短痛，最好的方式是赶快让他醒来。
I have a friend who yells "Fire!" just to rouse her sleeping teen.
我有一个朋友会大喊“开火！”，只是为了叫醒她的孩子。
And another who got so fed up that she had to dump cold water on her son's head just to get him out of bed.
我的另一朋友更是无奈，因为她必须把冷水倒在她儿子的头上，只是为了让他离开床铺。
Sound brutal ... but perhaps familiar?
听起来很残酷...但也许觉得有点熟悉？
Every morning I ask myself, "How can I -- knowing what I know and doing what I do for a living -- be doing this to my own son?"
每天早晨，我问自己：“明明我知道各种睡眠的知识，而且我赖以为生的工作就是与睡眠有关，但是我怎么能这样对待自己的儿子？”
You see, I'm a sleep researcher.
你明白了吧，我是一位睡眠的研究者。
So I know far too much about sleep and the consequences of sleep loss.
所以我很清楚睡眠的重要性，以及睡眠不足所导致的后果。
I know that I'm depriving my son of the sleep he desperately needs as a rapidly growing teenager.
我知道我正在剥夺我儿子所需要的睡眠，那对于正处于快速成长阶段的青少年来说，是非常需要的。
I also know that by waking him up hours before his natural biological clock tells him he's ready,
我也知道，我在他生理时钟的自然醒数小时前将我儿子叫醒，
I'm literally robbing him of his dreams
我正在剥夺了他的美梦，
the type of sleep most associated with learning, memory consolidation and emotional processing.
而这种睡眠型态与学习、记忆固化和情感处理是息息相关的。
But it's not just my kid that's being deprived of sleep.
但是，不只是我的孩子被剥夺了睡眠。
Sleep deprivation among American teenagers is an epidemic.
在美国的青少年之中，睡眠不足是普遍流行的现象。
Only about one in 10 gets the eight to 10 hours of sleep per night recommended by sleep scientists and pediatricians.
只有约1/10的青少年，每天晚上的睡眠时间能够达到睡眠科学家和小儿科医生所建议的8至10个小时。
Now, if you're thinking to yourself, "Phew, we're doing good, my kid's getting eight hours,"
现在，如果你回想自己的情况，“唷，我们家还不错，我的孩子有睡到8个小时。”
remember, eight hours is the minimum recommendation.
要记得，八个小时是建议的最低标准。
You're barely passing. Eight hours is kind of like getting a C on your report card.
只是刚好及格而已。每晚睡八个小时就像是在成绩单上得到C而已。
There are many factors contributing to this epidemic,
有许多原因使得睡眠不足的情况普遍蔓延，
but a major factor preventing teens from getting the sleep they need is actually a matter of public policy.
但是让青少年得不到需要的睡眠，实际上的主因是公共政策。
Not hormones, social lives or Snapchat. Across the country, many schools are starting around 7:30 a.m. or earlier,
而不是因为孩子们的荷尔蒙、社交生活或是照片分享软件Snapchat所造成的。在全国各地，许多学校都规定早上七点半左右到校，有的甚至更早；
despite the fact that major medical organizations recommend that middle and high school start no earlier than 8:30 a.m.
尽管各大医疗机构都提出建议，初高中不应该在早上八点半之前上课。
These early start policies have a direct effect on how much -- or really how little sleep American teenagers are getting.
过早到校上课的规定，直接影响到美国的青少年，让他们的睡眠时间越来越少。
They're also pitting teenagers and their parents in a fundamentally unwinnable fight against their own bodies.
这些规定也使得青少年和他们的父母，一直在这场赢不了的战争当中，与自己的身体健康对抗。
Around the time of puberty, teenagers experience a delay in their biological clock,
在青春期的时候，青少年的生理时钟会被推迟，
which determines when we feel most awake and when we feel most sleepy.
而这决定了我们何时感觉到清醒以及何时感觉到疲倦。
This is driven in part by a shift in the release of the hormone melatonin.
而这是由于释放褪黑激素的时间差所造成的。
Teenagers' bodies wait to start releasing melatonin until around 11 p.m.,
青少年的体内会等到晚上11点左右才开始释放褪黑激素，
which is two hours later than what we see in adults or younger children.
这比我们一般大人或小孩晚了2个小时。
This means that waking a teenager up at 6 a.m. is the biological equivalent of waking an adult up at 4 a.m.
这意味着早上六点醒来的青少年，他的生理状况相当于凌晨四点醒来的成年人。
On the unfortunate days when I have to wake up at 4 a.m., I'm a zombie.
在某些悲惨的日子里，我必须在凌晨四点起床，那时我就像是个僵尸。
Functionally useless. I can't think straight, I'm irritable, and I probably shouldn't be driving a car.
一无是处。我的思绪混乱，情绪烦躁，或许我连车都开不好。
But this is how many American teenagers feel every single school day.
然而，这是许多美国青少年每天上学时的感受。
In fact, many of the, shall we say, unpleasant characteristics that we chalk up to being a teenager
事实上我们可以说，青少年有许多令人讨厌的特质：
moodiness, irritability, laziness, depression -- could be a product of chronic sleep deprivation.
例如情绪化、焦躁、懒惰、忧郁--这些都是长期睡眠不足所造成的。
For many teens battling chronic sleep loss,
对许多青少年来说，要对抗长期性的睡眠不足，
their go-to strategy to compensate is consuming large quantities of caffeine in the form of venti frappuccinos, or energy drinks and shots.
他们的补偿方式是借由超大杯星冰乐或是能量饮料，来摄取大量的咖啡因。
So essentially, we've got an entire population of tired but wired youth.
所以基本上，我们让所有的青少年变得疲惫而且焦躁不安。
Advocates of sleep-friendly start times know that adolescence is a period of dramatic brain development,
主张友善睡眠与延后上课的倡导者了解到，青春期正是大脑剧烈发展的时期，
particularly in the parts of the brain that are responsible for those higher order thinking processes,
特别是大脑结构当中，负责处理高层次思考的区域，
including reasoning, problem-solving and good judgment.
会进行推理，问题解决和良好的判断。
In other words, the very type of brain activity that's responsible for reining in those impulsive
换句话说，这种特殊型态的大脑活动，负责管控各种青春期所特有的
and often risky behaviors that are so characteristic of adolescence and that are so terrifying to us parents of teenagers.
冲动与危险行为，而这也是我们这些青少年的父母所担心的。
They know that like the rest of us, when teenagers don't get the sleep they need,
他们知道，就像我们其他人一样，当青少年缺乏所需要的充足睡眠时，
their brains, their bodies and behaviors suffer with both immediate and lasting effects.
他们的大脑、身体和行为表现都会受到立即、持续的影响。

They can't concentrate, their attention plummets and many will even show behavioral signs that mimic ADHD.
他们无法集中精神，他们的注意力下降，许多人甚至会出现类似过动症的行为。
But the consequences of teen sleep loss go well beyond the classroom,
但是，青少年睡眠不足的后遗症不只发生在课堂学习，
sadly contributing to many of the mental health problems that skyrocket during adolescence,
更遗憾的是导致了在青春期出现了许多精神健康问题，
including substance use, depression and suicide.
包括物质滥用、忧郁症和自杀等问题。
In our work with teens from LA Unified School District,
在一项对于洛杉矶联合学区青少年所进行的研究，
we found that teens with sleep problems were 55 percent more likely to have used alcohol in the past month.
我们发现有睡眠问题的青少年当中，有超过55%的人在过去一个月曾经酗酒。
In another study with over 30,000 high school students, they found that for each hour of lost sleep,
另外一项针对三万多名高中生的研究发现，每减少一小时睡眠时间，
there was a 38 percent increase in feeling sad or hopeless, and a 58 percent increase in teen suicide attempts.
青少年的沮丧或无助感会增加38%，自杀的倾向也增加了58%。
And if that's not enough, teens who skip out on sleep are at increased risk for a host of physical health problems
影响还不止这些，忽视睡眠的青少年，会有更高的机率罹患各种疾病，
that plague our country, including obesity, heart disease and diabetes.
包括肥胖、心脏病和糖尿病。
Then there's the risk of putting a sleep-deprived teen, with a newly minted driver's license, behind the wheel.
然后，对于一个睡眠不足的青少年，当他刚刚考取驾照，驾驶着汽车时，还会出现另一种风险。
Studies have shown that getting five hours or less of sleep per night
研究显示，每晚的睡眠时间不到五个小时，
is the equivalent of driving with a blood alcohol content above the legal limit.
就相当于血液中的酒精含量超过法定标准的酒驾行为。
Advocates of sleep-friendly start times, and researchers in this area,
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，
have produced tremendous science showing the tremendous benefits of later start times.
已经发现大量的科学证据，显示延后上课时间具有巨大效益。
The findings are unequivocal, and as a sleep scientist, I rarely get to speak with that kind of certainty.
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。
Teens from districts with later start times get more sleep.
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,
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；
the truth is, their bedtimes stay the same, but their wake-up times get extended, resulting in more sleep.
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。
They're more likely to show up for school; school absences dropped by 25 percent in one district.
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%。
And they're less likely to drop out. Not surprisingly, they do better academically.
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.
所以这也对于减少成绩落差带来实际的效益。
Standardized test scores in math and reading go up by two to three percentage points.
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。
That's as powerful as reducing class sizes by one-third fewer students,
效果相当于将班级学生人数减少三分之一，
or replacing a so-so teacher in the classroom with a truly outstanding one.
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.
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。
I mean, who wouldn't enjoy a little more pleasantness from our teens, and a little less crankiness?
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？
Even their communities are safer because car crash rates go down -- a 70 percent reduction in one district.
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?
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？
So why have we as a society failed to heed this call?
那为什么我们的社会却不响应这个提议呢？
Often the argument against later start times goes something like this:
反对延后上课时间的论点通常是这样的：
"Why should we delay start times for teenagers? We need to toughen them up so they're ready for the real world!"
“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！”
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."
但是这种说法，就像是对着一位两岁幼儿的父母说：“不要让约翰尼睡午觉，否则他会无法适应幼儿园生活。”
Delaying start times also presents many logistical challenges.
延后上课时间，也面临许多日常营运上的挑战。
Not just for students and their families, but for communities as a whole.
不仅仅是对于学生和他们的家庭，而是包含整个小区。
Updating bus routes, increased transportation costs, impact on sports, care before or after school.
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。
These are the same concerns that come up in district after district, time and again around the country as school start times are debated.
当延后上课时间引发争论时，这些问题也会在越来越多的学区，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.
这些关切是合理的，但也都是我们必须克服的问题。
They are not valid excuses for failing to do the right thing for our children,
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，
which is to start middle and high schools no earlier than 8:30 a.m.
也就是将初高中延后到早上八点半开始上课。
And in districts around the country, big and small, who have made this change,
而在全国大大小小的学区当中，当他们愿意做出改变时，
they found that these fears are often unfounded and far outweighed by the tremendous benefits for student health and performance
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
and our collective public safety.
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,
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，
and the day seems a little longer, and a little more full of hope, think about the tremendous power of sleep.
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。
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.
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。
Thank you, and pleasant dreams.
谢谢，祝大家有个愉快的好梦。