by The Knight's Post Staff
Edited by Brenner Cobb
The health and practicality of the five-day work week, a long-observed practice in the United States and much of the West, is at question. This practice, which is the norm for most schools and workplaces, is believed by some to have negative effects on the individuals expected to participate in it. The number of consecutive work days and the nature of weekends is also being questioned by some.
Discussions over what days should be work days, and how long work hours should last, are often overlooked or brushed aside with the insistence to keep doing things as we have in the past. The individual workload of students and employees, and when that work is addressed, has definite effects on their health and personal lives. Additionally, extended or unusual work hours can make workplaces less safe and increase the risk of accidents. The work we do, and how often we are encouraged to do it, has effects on the way we feel, see our lives, and communicate with others.
Greenfield students should care because they currently attend school for 5 days each week and seven hours per day. They should care because studies, and real-world experiments, prove that shorter work weeks are often more productive ones. Some students feel that the school places too much of an emphasis on the importance of students earning good grades and not enough on the nature of their mental health. They believe that the current five-day week schedule creates high levels of stress, and many students seem to agree with this. Students praise the increased number of breaks that were worked into this year’s academic schedule, and some suggest implementing mental break days that include a normal school day but no, or reduced, homework. Greenfield students should care because the amount of time they spend working each week has a strong impact on their mental health, stress levels, and happiness.
The following are various suggestions from The Knight’s Post staff:
4 days/week and 9 hours/day
Either 6 days/week and 7 hours/day or 4 days/week and 9 hours/day
5 days/week and 8 hours/day (as usual), but change Sunday to be a work day and Wednesday to be a break day
4 days/week and 8 hours/day
4 days/week and 8 ½ hours/day
School schedule: 3 ½ days and 6 hours/day, Work schedule: 4 days of work and 8/hours day
6 days/week and 5 hours 49 minutes/day
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