Would students benefit from longer lunch? A longer break can help decrease stress. School and home life provide many stressors to teens’ daily lives to the point that it negatively affects their mental health. If the school allows for more breaks in the schedule, it can help students feel relaxed and more prepared to learn.
The problem is that many suffer from stress disorders, whether it is from work, school, or life in general, and many don’t know how to handle them. There are so many different reasons why your mental health can be off. In the article “Consequences of Student Mental Health Issues,” the Suicide Prevention Resource Center mentions how many students and people who work a 9-5 mental health problems, usually stemming from anxiety, stress, sleep difficulties, and then simply just depression.
Although I am aware that bad mental health can come from other issues, for example, from a source called Genetic and Epigenetic factors associated with depression, published by the National Library of Medicine. In this article, they mention depression can also come from a “depression gene”. Depression can show up in various forms and can be expressed in many different ways as well.
Freshman Peter Alix said, “I think I’ve just tried to be there as much as I can,” There are numerous reasons why you might suffer from a disorder, and we can fix every single one of them, but something that we certainly can do is be there for our friends and family who are struggling and help them get through every little step.”
Some people think schools already give students enough breaks and support, so changing the schedule would not help mental health disorders. Others believe students should simply learn how to manage their time better.
However, school stress can still have a major effect on students’ mental health. In the article “Stressed, Tired, and Yearning for Support” by Denise Clark Pope, Sarah Miles, Megan Pacheco, and Caitlin Ciannella, the authors explain that many students struggle with stress, sleep deprivation, and a lack of support at school. This evidence shows that students are dealing with real pressure from school, not just poor time management.
Student Raha Naji said, “I honestly think like the pressure I get from my parents is mostly them bashing me about my way of managing everything but I also think like schools can have an impact on that.”
Because of this, schools should still work to improve students’ mental health by giving them more support and breaks during the school day.
Our solution to the issue about mental health is to provide more breaks in the school day in order for students to take a breather and relax before returning to class. This could be longer lunches, more time in between classes and stretch breaks. Especially in high school, there are numerous classes that place large amounts of pressure on their students to perform well and impress colleges, which can become unhealthy for a growing brain.
When asked what changes she would make to the school schedule, sophomore Elle Purdom said, “Maybe not have AP tests start at eight in the morning,” This in addition to the stress on students to get good grades in their classes is a recipe for exhaustion. By providing more breaks and time for students to catch up, it can help improve their mental states.
Furthermore, an article “An Updated Stance on the Benefits of School Recess” posted by Newswise supports this claim when it states, “More recent research now shows that these pauses are vital for the brain to effectively process and store information.”
The pauses are referring to longer breaks in the school day, which is extremely beneficial to students in both elementary and high school.
Everyone’s mental health is important, and they deserve to have access to options that will support them. Fortunately, our school offers the Wellspace for people to come in and regulate themselves as well as taking mental health days off of school for students to get more rest. Despite these opportunities, the school day should include more breaks that don’t take away from students’ attendance because everyone deserves to take a breather in between classes.
