By Alison Freese
School in today’s society just takes up too much of a student’s day, let alone their childhood. From eight in the morning to three in the afternoon, we are forced to sit in our desks and learn things that are supposed to help us in life.
By shortening a very long, tiring school day by two hours, this would give students more time for sleep, and other things going on in their lives, such as sports.
A lot of teachers in schools don’t understand the other chores and tasks students have to accomplish when they get home after a long school day. After 3:05 on a weekday, most kids have a lot to do when they get home.
A lot of kids are in sports, so that takes up another two hours of their day. When they get home, it’s normally around dinner time, and after dinner are chores.
A usual student maybe gets around an hour of recreational time if they want to get a good night’s sleep.
But before they do go to bed, they usually have a lot of homework to complete that is due the next day. There’s no saying how long that could take, due to the amount they receive.
By taking away two hours off a school day, this could do a lot to help a student’s schedule. If an hour was taken from the morning and an hour from the end, this would give students an extra hour of sleep, and then another hour that can be used to complete homework.
Beginning school at 9:05 and ending it at 2:05 could also improve the focus of students. They wouldn’t feel stuck in a building for so long and time would seem to pass faster, so students wouldn’t feel so bored during class.
Changing the school schedule could also improve homework and test scores. The extra hour of sleep would give them the energy to focus during class, and the extra hour during the day would give them all the time they need to finish homework and study for difficult tests.
If this change ever does occur in the future, it would improve many things with a student’s life. Their sleep schedule would improve, their grades would be better, and their free time to complete homework and chores would be raised.
All these things could be achieved by simply taking off two hours of a school day.
This change may never occur during the rest of my time in school, but I hope one day, school officials will rethink their decision on a school day and greatly help future students.
Alison Freese is a student at Lanesboro High School. She is one of eight area students participating in the Journal Writing Project, now in its 21st year.