MikoTheMighty t1_jcjzgf0 wrote on March 17, 2023 at 11:51 AM

Reply to comment by vestafell in Do you think Maine should mandate later start times for high schools? by benpinette

Most jobs generally don't involve learning new information, every day, having take-home off-the-clock assignments, and then being tested on it. Even in a job with a lot of novelty, it still isn't comparable to the sheer amount of information you're being asked to learn at school where you're also expected to be a generalist and not a specialist.

I'm currently in a masters program while working a fulltime 8-5. Even just taking one course at a time (instead of a half dozen different topics) school still requires far more of my mental energy than my job, and I spend much more time at my job.

A lot of research has already shown that grown adults at 8-5 jobs experience a drop-off in ability to focus after several straight hours. I don't think it's realistic to expect better outcomes for kids being taught for 8 hours every day.

vestafell t1_jckgwhi wrote on March 17, 2023 at 2:18 PM

>A lot of research has already shown that grown adults at 8-5 jobs experience a drop-off in ability to focus after several straight hours. I don't think it's realistic to expect better outcomes for kids being taught for 8 hours every day.

Maybe it's because they weren't trained from a young age to adapt to those kinds of routines.

And not just straight classroom hours, but also socializing time, club time, sports time, lunch time, quiet time.

Most high-achieving high schoolers already do what is essentially 8-5, if not more. Mandating it for everyone will bridge the gap in achievement and alleviate social inequality in the long run.