Five days per week, students are obligated to come to school. Five times per week, they wake  up at 8 a.m, and dread some of the classes ahead. Students only have two days off from school to recover and rest from the week before. Schools should transition from five days per week to four days per week.

Four days per week is perfect because teachers still have enough time to teach the students the content, and students have enough time to do the work required.

School work can be exhausting and very stressful for the average student. Not only do we have to wake up super early, but we also stress over classwork and tests that may be given the following day. Some teachers also like to give homework over the weekend. Since the weekend is only two days, students do not have enough time to recover from the previous week and to do the work that may be required from his/her classes.

Most high school students suffer from stress due to so much homework and the time required to study for the quizzes/test. According to U.S. NEWS, “High levels of stress, especially related to school, have been an issue for teens for years. In a 2013 NPR poll, 40% of parents said their high schooler was experiencing “a lot of stress” from school, while a 2019 Pew Research report identified academics as the leading source of pressure teens face.”

 Through all of my school experience, I have faced plenty of challenges and problems due to stress. For example, my freshman year I experienced a ton of stress due to all of the courses I was taking. 

My stress played a huge role in my attitude and mood towards school. I didn’t want to come to school due to all of the stress of all the work. It also does not help that parents are always stalking PowerSchool looking for the slightest grade movements in any courses.

Giving students the extra day will help them not only physically, but mentally as well. That extra day of rest will help the students be more ready and engaged for the following week to come.  So maybe we can make a change to the standard school week, and actually try out something different and beneficial.