10 a.m. starts: A nice dream, an impossible reality
Teenagers have been dreaming of a school day in which classes don’t start until later in the morning since the beginning of public education. But it seems highly unlikely, even with the proposed schedule changes on the table, that this dream will ever become a reality.
While there are some pros, the one overwhelming con is this: Parents can’t get their kids to school at 10 a.m. It is just a fact of life. A majority of families have two working parents, and both parents probably have to get to work between 8 and 8:30. So who will take the kid to school?
Maybe some families work something out. Maybe some hire a driver to drive their kids to school at 10. Maybe some have their kids ride their bikes or take a bus. Maybe some carpool with another family. But, you are always going to have one kid who cannot get to school.
The only way for Uni to possibly make this work is to set up a bus system for the kids who aren’t close enough in town to take an MTD. Yet, for some reason, I don’t see this happening. If start time were pushed back to 10 for some days, the only people you are making happier are the students, and when has Uni ever worried about that?
Sarah Pfander
Comments
I agree with you that the 10-4 short day isn’t feasible, but I actually like the 8-2 day better, personally. Not that I have any vested interest in the matter as I won’t go to this school after a couple more weeks, but it seems like people would wake up groggy at 10 am and would feel off of their normal schedule for the rest of the day. It seems better just to get the school day over with as soon as possible.
In any case, I don’t know why this issue is being discussed at all by the administration, as it is impossible to implement effectively and not even all students would appreciate it. I don’t see any reason to change the status quo if a working model has been developed already.
Posted by: Max Goldberg | May 8, 2006 3:50 PM