Schools Now
Today most high schools begin their days anywhere from 7:30 8:00 a.m., they run seven hours a day until usually anywhere from 3:00 to 4:00 with one thirty minute lunch break. The majority of students typically despise attending school and waking up at 6:00 a.m. to catch their bus or be at school on time. Average teenagers usually naturally fall asleep anywhere from 10:00 p.m. to 11:00 or 12:00 p.m. and waking up before the sun rises at 6:00 a.m. leaves only about 6 to 8 hours of sleep when it is best they have 10.
On average most teens and students oppose going to school, not because they oppose learning but because they oppose not getting enough sleep and being moody because of it; and not having enough time to do homework with after school activities and not being able to keep up a good grade which is too highly pressured in modern society. Students would thrive so much better in school and maybe even enjoy it if simple yet extremely helpful changes were made.
School Hours and Timing
Schools start anywhere from seven to eight in the morning therefore students must wake up anywhere from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. in order to be at school on time, thus they are waking up far too early than their brains are ready for and also getting less sleep they so badly need. The teenage brain can not function at it's strongest without an adequate amount of sleep, especially after suddenly waking up when it is not ready to. Therefore students, especially in their morning classes are not able to perform at their highest ability.
Due to student's brains not being fully active early in the mornings school should start later perhaps at a time like 9:00 a.m. so students can wake up naturally instead of being suddenly woken by an alarm clock when their bodies and brains are not ready to activate. A less stressful morning with more time and gaining more sleep in the night will lead to happier teens and finally let them start school at a decent time when they are actually able to learn and retain knowledge better.
Negative Effects From Less Sleep
Also since teens naturally drift to sleep at around 11:00 p.m. according to this website here if they have to wake up so early, such as anywhere from five to six in the morning they are significantly drowsy. Being drowsy and tired is detrimental to being active in class, retaining knowledge learned in class, performance in sports that may be played after school, and also driving to school in the morning. Most teenagers over the age of sixteen drive themselves to school and being drowsy at the wheel is a dangerous situation that could cause significant harm to themselves and others.
Today most high schools begin their days anywhere from 7:30 8:00 a.m., they run seven hours a day until usually anywhere from 3:00 to 4:00 with one thirty minute lunch break. The majority of students typically despise attending school and waking up at 6:00 a.m. to catch their bus or be at school on time. Average teenagers usually naturally fall asleep anywhere from 10:00 p.m. to 11:00 or 12:00 p.m. and waking up before the sun rises at 6:00 a.m. leaves only about 6 to 8 hours of sleep when it is best they have 10.
On average most teens and students oppose going to school, not because they oppose learning but because they oppose not getting enough sleep and being moody because of it; and not having enough time to do homework with after school activities and not being able to keep up a good grade which is too highly pressured in modern society. Students would thrive so much better in school and maybe even enjoy it if simple yet extremely helpful changes were made.
School Hours and Timing
Schools start anywhere from seven to eight in the morning therefore students must wake up anywhere from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. in order to be at school on time, thus they are waking up far too early than their brains are ready for and also getting less sleep they so badly need. The teenage brain can not function at it's strongest without an adequate amount of sleep, especially after suddenly waking up when it is not ready to. Therefore students, especially in their morning classes are not able to perform at their highest ability.
Due to student's brains not being fully active early in the mornings school should start later perhaps at a time like 9:00 a.m. so students can wake up naturally instead of being suddenly woken by an alarm clock when their bodies and brains are not ready to activate. A less stressful morning with more time and gaining more sleep in the night will lead to happier teens and finally let them start school at a decent time when they are actually able to learn and retain knowledge better.
Negative Effects From Less Sleep
Also since teens naturally drift to sleep at around 11:00 p.m. according to this website here if they have to wake up so early, such as anywhere from five to six in the morning they are significantly drowsy. Being drowsy and tired is detrimental to being active in class, retaining knowledge learned in class, performance in sports that may be played after school, and also driving to school in the morning. Most teenagers over the age of sixteen drive themselves to school and being drowsy at the wheel is a dangerous situation that could cause significant harm to themselves and others.
A Needed Break During the Day
Since an average school day is about seven hours a day with seven different classes in between and only one 30 minute lunch break, it is nearly impossible for a teenager to retain all information that is learnt almost nonstop for seven hours. Therefore a break during the day needs to be longer than just 30 minutes, and hour long lunch break would suffice for a nice break during the day to give students time to relax and regroup before the second half of the day. A full hour leaves time for eating, socializing, which is extremely important or teenagers, relaxing, and letting the information they learned in the first half of the day set in.
Block Scheduling
Typical schools tend to have a seven hour school day with seven different class periods, thus expecting students to learn a lot of information for seven different classes all in one day and be able to retain all of the information. Seven different classes in one day is too much to be able to retain all knowledge for each class. Therefore the system of block scheduling that is used in some schools is far more productive than having seven periods a day.
Block scheduling typically gives each student four classes per day instead of seven, however the class periods are longer therefore leaving more time to learn more information and also be able to retain it. Since block scheduling gives each class a longer time to be taught it eliminates large amounts of homework that the majority of students usually can not complete after school due to reasons such as sports, clubs, or part time jobs.
A Better Education For All
All in all if all schools had a later start in the morning allowing students to get more sleep and not be so drowsy in the morning they would be able to learn better. And, if there was a significant break in the middle of the day, giving students a time to relax and regroup they would be more organized, less stressed, and ready to learn during the second half of the day. Lastly, if block scheduling was more common students would be less stressed about homework, they would be able to learn and retain more knowledge in longer classes and be able to pursue hobbies after school. If all of these changes were made to the education system students would be happier, less stressed, and be able to learn more and not dread school.
First image source here
Second image source here
Since an average school day is about seven hours a day with seven different classes in between and only one 30 minute lunch break, it is nearly impossible for a teenager to retain all information that is learnt almost nonstop for seven hours. Therefore a break during the day needs to be longer than just 30 minutes, and hour long lunch break would suffice for a nice break during the day to give students time to relax and regroup before the second half of the day. A full hour leaves time for eating, socializing, which is extremely important or teenagers, relaxing, and letting the information they learned in the first half of the day set in.
Block Scheduling
Typical schools tend to have a seven hour school day with seven different class periods, thus expecting students to learn a lot of information for seven different classes all in one day and be able to retain all of the information. Seven different classes in one day is too much to be able to retain all knowledge for each class. Therefore the system of block scheduling that is used in some schools is far more productive than having seven periods a day.
Block scheduling typically gives each student four classes per day instead of seven, however the class periods are longer therefore leaving more time to learn more information and also be able to retain it. Since block scheduling gives each class a longer time to be taught it eliminates large amounts of homework that the majority of students usually can not complete after school due to reasons such as sports, clubs, or part time jobs.
A Better Education For All
All in all if all schools had a later start in the morning allowing students to get more sleep and not be so drowsy in the morning they would be able to learn better. And, if there was a significant break in the middle of the day, giving students a time to relax and regroup they would be more organized, less stressed, and ready to learn during the second half of the day. Lastly, if block scheduling was more common students would be less stressed about homework, they would be able to learn and retain more knowledge in longer classes and be able to pursue hobbies after school. If all of these changes were made to the education system students would be happier, less stressed, and be able to learn more and not dread school.
First image source here
Second image source here