As a student waking up early and attending a rigorous school schedule for 7-8 hours a day, I have experienced firsthand the effects of the lack of rest and free time. It's not only me; millions of students around the world suffer from this structure that provides hardly any space for self-care, hobbies, and socialization. We believe that a three-day weekend schedule can solve this paramount issue, by providing an additional day for students to recover and relax.

Studies indicate that adequate rest is critical to a student's physical health and academic performance. In fact, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, regular sleep deprivation in teens can have negative impacts on their cognitive abilities and emotional health. Extending the weekend by one day would give students an extra 24 hours to catch up on sleep that the current five-day schedule often deprives them of.

In addition, it’s not just about sleep. The present structure restricts the time students should take to unwind, learn life skills, socialize, or just enjoy being children. An extra day off would give students more freedom to engage in leisure activities, play sports, spend time with friends – in short, have a healthier social life.

On a broader level, this is not just about making students' lives more balanced and healthier. It's also about redefining how we perceive education and productivity. A study from Stanford showed that productivity per hour declines sharply when a person works more than 50 hours a week. By reducing the school week, we'd not only address the sleep deprivation issue; we'd also foster an environment where students can be more productive during the hours they are learning.

We invite all who read this petition to stand with students everywhere in demanding a three-day weekend schedule. This is a step to preserve the mental and physical well-being of students, promote better academic performance, and cultivate a healthier society. Please sign this petition to make three-day weekends in schools a reality.

Do you love weekends? Do you like hanging out with friends and getting more time to relax? Well, this article is for you. We recently spoke to Edison Intermediate1 School’s students about their opinion on 3-day weekends. Seventh grader Madison Green said, “Three-day weekends would give us more rest, which leads to higher performance.” 

According to the article Start School Later, 20-30 percent of high school students and 6 percent of middle school students fall asleep in class; our 3-day weekends would significantly lower the number of kids that do this. However, how would the curriculum be taught with one less day of school per week? Eighth grader Luke Politi expressed what time he feels school should start and end with 3-day weekends. “School would be more balanced with 3-day weekends if we started at 7:30 a.m. and ended at 3:00 p.m.” 

Extending the current school day by an hour would give students a more extended educational-based week and more free time on 3-day weekends. This schedule would also give students a manageable time to get home and prepare for sports or extracurricular/after-school activities. 

Sixth grader Sawyer Daniels explained how he feels about 3-day weekends. “During regular school, there are not enough breaks. I would be fine with longer school days, but I would want a study period where students can go to a classroom and get extra help.” 

This shows that students who care about their grades and mental health want to perform their best during four-day school weeks. Between homework and sports, students find it hard to make room for friends, but with another day tagged on to the weekend, students could use that day to have fun and hang out with friends. EIS Social Studies teacher Mrs. Jackie Messinger expresses how she would feel about a switch: “Three-day weekends would give us more time to tidy up around the house.” 

School Resource Officer Ricardo Johnson explained what his schedule would look like if Westfield Schools adopted a four-day school week: “As a member of the Westfield Police Department, my schedule would not change, considering I would just go out to patrol instead of being in the school.” 

These are just a tenth of the people we interviewed, and as you can see, people love this idea of 3-day weekends. Also, if you think that no one would ever accept this proposal for 3-day weekends, several states already have 3-day weekends.  With this information, why wouldn’t New Jersey make the change? 

-Edison Insider (https://edisoninsider.com/2225/opinion/we-cant-keep-waiting-for-the-weekend/