Four Day School Week for High School

By: Abby Miri

As students, we all know the feeling of staying up late into the night, knowing you have a major test or project due the next day. From homework, to studying, to sports and extracurricular activities, there is a load of stress that high school students have to deal with on a daily basis, negatively impacting both their lives outside of school and their mental health. A four day school week for high schools would be much better for students than a five day one because it could lighten the load on students’ backs while also giving parents and teachers a more ideal schedule.

First and foremost, a four day school week would aid in de-stressing the tired and burnt-out students who become overwhelmed with all their school related activities. Too many assignments, tests, and extracurriculars with insufficient time causes students to get backed up on their work, leading students to stress out over school. The workload leads to burn-out, which negatively affects students’ mental health. According to the CDC, four in ten students feel persistently sad and hopeless, and nearly one third of students experience poor mental health. A great deal of this mental health issue comes from students not having enough time for a life outside school. With one extra day on the weekend, students could have extra time to catch up on work, allowing them to avoid the severe stress that comes with being overworked and also spend time with family and friends, pursue hobbies, or even just relax.

However, the four day school week is not just beneficial for students. It can also help teachers and parents. An extra day off on the weekend would give teachers more time to grade homework, tests, and projects. Oftentimes, late work and an overwhelming amount of assignments can cause grading to be backed up, thus giving teachers unnecessary stress. The extra day off would give teachers a day to relax and catch up stress-free, just as it does for students, thus giving them both a more relaxed and healthy school-life balance. One common counterargument to the four day school week is that it can be difficult for parents to look after their kids on Fridays, when they would have work and thus would not be able to take care of their kids themselves. However, most high school students can take care of themselves for a day, so it would not be necessary for them to have babysitters. In fact, the four day school week could even benefit families because the longer school day for high school students would allow parents who work to pick up their high schoolers when school ends and younger kids from daycare all at the same time. This saves parents from having to worry about pick-up times, thus making everyone’s lives easier.

School and school-related activities can be stressful, but a four day school week system implemented in high schools could eliminate a lot of that stress for students, teachers, and parents. With a four day school week, students could focus more time and energy on things that really matter to them, like spending quality time with loved ones and pursuing hobbies. With a four day school week, teachers and parents could benefit from a more ideal schedule that fits their needs. Overall, a four day school week system is a better system for prioritizing a work-life balance for everyone involved.