Increased classroom time will burn kids out
Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Tennessee announced Monday that students will be required to go to school for 300 more hours as early as 2013, according to The State. Though this effort’s intentions are to increase student success while simultaneously allowing U.S. school systems to be more competitive on a global level, the drawbacks significantly outweigh the benefits.
The average school day for most kids is already daunting, as students are forced to remain confined in a building for seven hours. Increasing the amount of time in school won’t increase test scores or the knowledge students gain, but rather will increase the likelihood of having their attention stray elsewhere. In countries such as South Korea and Finland, students spend less time in school than American students, whose test scores are significantly lower.
Nearly 20,000 students in 40 schools will be a part of the program intended to last three years. It has not been officially decided if school days will become longer, more days will be added or a combination of the two will be implemented.
Not only will students become burnt out with an extended day or longer year, but teachers will also experience the monotony of instructing for a longer period of time. If teachers find their work becoming insipid, then students will also lose interest. Prolonging the amount of time students spend in school will not create progress, but rather create a country filled with disinterested and irritable children.