Brunswick High School’s Dual Enrollment English 101 course was given an assignment to write a persuasive essay about a topic of their choosing. The Garnet & Gold Gazette staff chose their top 10 editorials to publish on our site. Staff used elements of news such as proximity, reader impact, human interest, and prominence within our community to publish relevant and enticing information on our site. 

The essays chosen did an amazing job informing readers on the content and creating persuasive arguments on the chosen topics.

“High Schoolers Yearn for More Sleep–Please Let Us Sleep”

Oh, good ol’ high school; the milestone era in every student’s lives where the transition from childhood to adulthood truly begins. From needing to show a minimal amount of effort in class to using every given minute as an advantage to execute all assignments to the best of your ability. The level of success a student makes in high school will affect the rest of their lives. This statement sets a fundamental goal for all students to strive for a successful future. However, modern days have impacted colleges, making it far more competitive and demanding to get accepted. This results in an increased number of high school students involving themselves in several school events, clubs, and activities at the same time. So the lingering question arises: how are students supposed to keep pace with such expectations? 

A survey performed by CDCP concluded–there are around 57% high school students who are involved in one sport at least during the school year. Whether these sports are within or outside of the school system, practices are often held several times a week and range from one to three hours. This is a large amount of time adding onto the seven hours students spend in school. Now, as a high school student– you are on your way to becoming an adult; meaning you may want to begin to create your own source of income. Considering the other hours spent studying and doing homework along with all these important personal responsibilities taking several hours from the day of a student–where is there time to step away to give the body rest? Expecting a maturing student to balance this time constricted schedule in a healthy manner is like asking someone to sprint 400 meters in 50 seconds. Not impossible, but exhausting and detrimental to our health when it is done repetitively without rest. 

Some students may be in favor of the extra hours of school–this is mainly for reasons of extra one-on-one practice with teachers. If high schools had reduced hours, the addition of optional workshop hours may be useful for students who are in need of extra assistance; to benefit both sides. The main concern in schools should not only be their performance in school, but their health while managing these tasks. Being one of those students myself who must learn to balance sports and school, I am completely aware of the immense dedication and hardwork it takes to sustain these responsibilities. I take several advanced classes while managing two sports within the same season, and might I add it has been nothing less of a hurricane for a schedule. I often find myself running on four hours of sleep and yet still searching for more time to complete pending tasks. The human body can only withstand so much physical and mental activity with minimal rest. 

This school year I have come to realize that with the early release I occasionally receive for my college class–I manage to complete more work and attain more rest. A single hour withdrawn from my total school schedule gives me the time to be more productive and practice what we are taught in class, on my own. I have seen significant improvement in my grades and understanding in lessons I was taught. If we reduce the amount of hours high schools operate, we may see a major improvement in not only academics, but health for several students. Once students have more rest and less stress, they will have a healthier mentality which they will then find easier to focus in class and comprehend information. 

Works Cited:

Riser-Kositsky, Maya, and Holly Peele. “Statistics on School Sports: How Many Students Play Sports? Which Sports

         Do They Play?” Education Week, 26 Oct. 2022, www.edweek.org/leadership/statistics-on-school-sports-how-

         many-students-play-sports-which-sports-do-they-

          play/2021/07#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20Centers%20for,team%20in%20the%20past%20year.

         Accessed 02 Oct. 2023.