Lots of students walk into school each day tired and exhausted from previous days and nights of homework and extracurricular activities, only to have to spend the next seve n hours trying to stay focused in class and make sure they understand new material. By the end of the day, it becomes very hard to give their full attention to the material at school; many students simply tune out their teachers. The long hours of the school day that are meant to help students prepare for their futures leave them stressed, burnt out, and even unmotivated. School days should be shortened so students can be more focused during class, have time to improve mental health and prevent burnout, and gain more time to develop important life skills outside of school.
The current long school days make it difficult for students to stay focused in all of their classes. It is easy for students to lose their attention spans after long periods of time spent only in class. According to a website that explains functions of the brain, the average 16-year-old’s attention span is only 32-48 minutes (brainbalancecenters.com). After long class periods, students get mentally tired, so they tend to stop paying attention to what they are being taught. If the school days and class periods were shorter, then it would help students stay alert and active during class, improving knowledge retention and learning.
Long school days only cause more stress, exhaustion, and burnout for students. Shorter days would support students’ mental health by giving students a more balanced schedule, which would help improve mood, motivation, and well-being. “Shorter class periods and shorter days in general, would decrease students’ stress in regards to homework, since they would have more time to finish it. Also, students would be able to get more rest and be better prepared for the upcoming days,” said Freshman Victoria Forsythe. Between school, homework, and extracurricular activities, lots of students do not have enough time to mentally reset and rest up for the next day.
Shorter school days would give students time outside of school to grow and prepare for their future once they graduate. “If school days were shorter, I would feel more comfortable getting a job, because I would know that I would have more time to get things done and not have to stress as much,” said Sophomore Lezlie Lopez. Jobs help build independence, time management, and real-world skills that are not always taught in classrooms, yet are extremely important for high schoolers’ transition to adulthood.
Some people argue that schools should continue having long days because the more time spent in class would equate to more learning. According to the National Education Association, “What ELT (extended learning time) allows us to do is offer enrichment programs that we would not otherwise have the time to offer. Academics are a part of the program, but students also have the opportunity to participate in different interests – arts, sports, engineering, computers, and martial arts. Anything is possible,” said President of Fall River Educators’ Association Rebecca Cusick (nea.org). However, the National Education Association also said, “The interest in longer school days has extended beyond the immediate impact on students and educators. A recent study by the Center for American Progress sounded the alarm about how the traditional school schedule is out of sync with the realities of the economic climate” (nea.org). This displays that the current school schedule is not working well anymore and needs to be updated.
Shortening the school day would benefit students more than keeping long periods that tire students out. When students are exhausted, they begin to lose focus and struggle to adequately acquire knowledge, no matter how much time they are actually in class. Shorter school days would support students maintaining focus, preserve their mental health, and give students time to grow outside of school.