Should students have more free time during school hours? In my opinion, yes.
Students at Ben Davis have a total of eleven periods a day, including a lunch period and five minute passing periods.. This is the only school permitted breaks students are allowed to have during the day.
The school day starts at 8:30 am and ends at 3:20 pm. I know students are expected to make the most out of these hours and work, but at the same time this is setting students up to work for roughly seven hours straight on multiple different subjects. Students are expected to be able to focus for this full period of time, which for most students is hard to do.
This is why students should be allowed to have more free time during school and lunch and passing periods should not count as “free time.”
Students need to be able to socialize with their friends more often during the school day so when they need to go to class and focus they are able to because all of their energy is out of their system.
Free time for students should be limited – maybe a built-in 10 minute break daily – so students can get their work done, but not so limited that their only “breaks’’ are passing periods and lunch periods.
We all come to school to be successful, seven hours a day sitting in a classroom does not always lead to success. Having 10-15 minutes a day to “chill” outside the class environment could go a long way in helping students focus more.
It’s worth considering.
