By Sophia Doan
The cycle continues: wake up, go to school, extracurricular activities, hours of homework, before crashing to sleep. The average high school student struggles to maintain their mental health, balance, and academic focus amidst strenuous schedules. With only two days of a weekend, often consumed by work, activities, and homework, students and teachers alike deserve a four-day school week in order to stabilize their lives, have more time for school, and encourage schools to utilize time more efficiently.
Students and teachers alike are increasingly stabilized by a longer break on the weekend. “It enhances the professional profile of teaching and reduces teacher burnout…” reads a Webster article detailing the positive implications of a four-day weekend, “offering teachers more professional autonomy attracts more teachers” (webster.edu). Allowing teachers to take longer breaks gives more time for grading, lesson planning, and engagement within the classroom. Instead of burning out teachers with continuous lessons and grading, a three-day weekend grants more leeway to perform their profession well. In Texas, many schools have adopted this educational model to give more allowance to teachers—teachers continue to come to school five days a week; students, four. “One day a week is set aside for planning, grading, and professional development, which many teachers on a traditional school schedule have to do in the evenings after school and on their days off,” states an article summarizing the results of this transition in Texas (journalistresource.org).
Similarly, students experience increasing levels of stability with more time to balance their busy lives and schedules. Giving a four-day work week makes room for homework, studying, extracurricular activities, and time to relax. This increased time for students allows them to pursue both jobs and internships, gaining necessary real-life experience. Specifically for working students, a four-day school week brings more balance and less stress. Studies regarding Generation Z’s mental health reveal that “Gen. Z individuals face some of the highest rates of mental health conditions (eg, depression)” (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov). The primary goal of the four-day week is to help prevent increasing mental health conditions within this generation. “Members of Generation Z…are growing up in an age of increased stress and anxiety,” reads a mental health article (aecf.org). Much of that stress is attributed to an abundance of responsibilities met with a lack of time. A four-day school week would severely decrease those stress levels.
Lastly, the change in scheduling would force schools to utilize time more efficiently. Instead of long classes with busy work and repeated lectures, time could be better spent within the periods given.
Overall, a four-day school week would adapt to the realities dually both students and teachers face. With increasing mental health risks among Gen Z, insurmountable workloads, and increasing burnout, schools must adapt to better serve the people they serve and teach. A shorter week provides balance—allowing teachers to perform better and students to succeed—proving why the model should continue to grow.