Shorter School Days Summary

In an article written by a high school student named Rachel D., “High School Pressure: Why Students Need Shorter Days,” which was published by the Huffington Post, she argues that the length of school days has damning effects on students. Essentially her argument is that long school days leave students with two choices: to engage in social activities, or to complete coursework, and this leaves them feeling like they have little control over their lives (Rachel D). The article seems to rely solely on ethos, as readers are essentially expected to take the author’s word that her suggestions would have positive effects on the basis that, because she is a high school student, she knows the struggles that high schoolers face. Along with this, she also throws a hasty
To begin with, although the possibility of shortening school days is certainly an idea worth considering, Rachel’s points are ultimately hollow because they are broad and lack support. For example, her biggest claim is that “By shortening the school days, students wouldn’t be as distressed about going to school and their grades would be higher” (Rachel D). While this is a fair assumption, that is all it is. There is no evidence provided suggesting longer hours at school lead to greater levels of stress, or that shorter hours would cut down on this stress and that, because of these shorter hours and reduced stress, student grades would rise across the board. There are also various factors that are avoided, quite possibly because Rachel has not considered them. For instance, for some students being at home is more stressful than being at school. More obvious, though, is that while shorter school days may reduce student stress, the resulting shorter instructional periods would likely heighten the stress felt by teachers having to fit