By Monica Ramirez,
Lyons Township
You may hate me for saying this, but I want longer school days.
Yes, I was one of those nerdy kids in elementary school who actually liked being there. Why? Because school wasn’t stressful and it sure wasn’t as hard. My kindergarten teachers spent the day teaching names, letters, numbers and colors, while my trigonometry teacher now zips through a chapter in one week.
In order to truly learn something, most people must practice it more than once. But how can students do this if they’re not in school long enough?
Earlier this fall, President Obama said he wants schools to add time to classes and stay open late so students are safe. If teachers had more time, maybe they would allow their students to do some homework in class. After all, who better to have sitting five feet away while doing your French homework than your French teacher?
Not only will more class time generate more individual attention from teachers, but it will allow for more interactive learning experiences. Instead of just talking about Romeo and Juliet, what if you could actually go see the play? What if art history students actually had time to view the art they study? Pretty time consuming, isn’t it?
Really, Obama’s plan to extend the school day is only going to benefit those of you who find class to be a snoozer. That history lecture just suddenly got interesting when your teacher had time to show a YouTube clip. I say bring on longer school days.
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NO, STUDENTS ARE SWAMPED
By Arianna Garcia
William Fremd
Students today hardly have time to even eat dinner. Many are bombarded with classes, homework, sports, extracurricular activities, work and never-ending standardized tests. How can students possibly have time to squeeze a longer school day onto their already-overflowing schedules?
President Obama has suggested extending the school day in order to improve test scores throughout the U.S. and make our students more competitive with students in other countries. There’s only one problem to this logic. According to The Associated Press, although many other nations have longer school years, U.S. students already spend more hours in school than many Asian countries whose students score higher on tests.
If the number of hours in the school day were to increase, what would happen to sports teams and extracurricular activities? We all know that colleges look highly upon those who are involved within their school and community. If school was extended to 5 p.m. or 7 p.m., many students would be busy with homework or just too mentally exhausted to participate in any of these team-building and worthwhile activities.
Many students probably wouldn’t even have enough time after school to finish homework. Sometimes, I stay up until 3 or 4 a.m. scrambling to finish my latest English essay. Would students ever get any sleep?
I agree that test scores and the learning experience are important. However, letting loose and having fun once in a while are important, too. There are so many more invaluable life experiences that can only be taught outside the classroom.
What do you think? Who do you agree with? Let us know in the comments.
TheMash was overloaded with replies from students who read this article in the paper. Here's a glimpse of what some high schoolers who wrote in had to say:
1. I agree with Arianna because I think students wouldn't have time to do things they usually do after school. What would happen to after school activities? How would students manage school, work & extracurricular activities? My sister has basketball practice after school. Sports are very important not only for my sister but for others, too. If we spend more time at school she wouldn't have time for basketball anymore.
I have pool functions with the Marine Corps after school. how would I get ready to ship out for boot training if I'm at school? I understand school is important to students but after school activities are too. Therefore, I think we shouldn't spend anymore time at school then we already do. It's fine the way it is now.
-- Marianna Cruz, George Washington High School
Should students spend more time in school? I agreed with Arianna Garcia. I agreed with her because I thought that even though "U.S. students already spend more hours in school that many Asian countries whose students score higher test scores," so why should we even spend more time school?
Yes, if we do spend more time in school, we could get better scores or (maybe) we couldn't cuz our brains will probably be fried from staying in school late and trying to get other things done as well.
Also, I feel that if we were to stay in school longer we wouldn't be able to enjoy ourselves after school. We would all just go straight home and try to get some sleep.
-- Kelly Flores, George Washington High School
I agree with the point Arianna Garcia makes in saying that students are already swamped with all sorts of things. I can relate to many of the arguements she stated.
For one, I am always busy with extracurricular activities, and try juggling homework at the same time. There are days when I stay up until 2 a.m. trying to finish homework for my English class.
A point made by Arianna brought a new attention to my eyes. "Although many other nations have longer school years, U.S. students already spend more hours in school than many Asian countries whose students score higher on tests."
I sort of had a feeling this was true, but on the other hand maybe an hour more of school could at least enable us to compete with others. Overall, I agreed mostly with Arianna, and she swayed me into believing what she wrote.
-- Mirelle Rivera, George Washington High School
I agree with Arianna Garcia. Students shouldn't spend more time in school. "Many students would be busy with homework or just too mentally exhausted..." said Arianna. I agree with this statement for the reason that all students should have an equal amount of school time and social time.
-- Carolina Calderon, George Washington High School
I agree with Arianna because I have my own life to live and don't like to be in school that long. I also agree with what she says about the extracurricular activities.
-- Michael Oria, George Washington High School
Dear Mash,
In regards to the topic of whether students should spend more time in school each day, I would have to agree with Arianna Garcia. I do not think that the school day should be longer, for the simple fact that students would have to deal with more homework. With a longer day, it's possible that an extra class would be added to fill time. Being a student already, I wouldn't be too excited with that idea. One more class, one new batch of homework to deal with.
Garcia asks, "what would happen to extracurricular activities?" Good question! For the longest it's been encouraged to be active and join clubs. These activities look good on transcripts when applying for colleges. "Colleges look highly upon those who are involved," Garcia adds. But with and longer school day, students would have no interest or time, viewing school as an overall "drag".
Monica Ramirez argues that the President Obama feels that "adding time to classes and stay open late" would be efficient for students' safety. But with the thought of students ending school later, crime lurks at every hour. It would also effect students' transportation schedules. All in all, I believe that students should not spend more time in school. One reason being that it'd leave less time for students to complete homework. I wouldn't be surprised if the drop out rate would increase, because students would just be exhausted.
-- Victoria Navia, George Washington High School
I agree with Arianna Garcia. I believe that if you add more hours on the skool day then you would raise the dropout rate.
-- LO "SWAG FLU" SO
i have to agree with adriana. School is a bored place to be even if there is going to be a fight they might make us sty in classes more and the food in school look and smiles like they are spoiled. I think we should have half a day on some days,like on friday