By Nicholas Colombo
When walking the halls of Branford High School, the tapping of number two pencils, ballpoint pens, and fingernails can be heard. Similarly, many students tap their feet or bounce their legs in an effort to move while “chained” to their desks. A multitude of students can be seen gazing off into space, staring at whatever mind movie they are engrossed in. And many of the students are slumped in their chairs to grab a peak at their phones for some semblance of interaction — a teacher’s greatest fear.
Students need to move and be active. And what is it that schools too often force children to do? Sit still for six hours.
Branford High School’s new block schedule was implemented to give students more time to absorb information and use class time productively; however, after over an hour of sitting still, students too often become fidgety and dissociate from the lesson. This is detrimental to the students’ education and wastes the teacher’s time and effort.
But thankfully, there is a straightforward solution (with a multitude of benefits) to this problem – increase the amount of movement in every classroom and with every instructional lesson.
When exercise is repeated throughout the day, it has proven to elevate focus. Some may argue that a simple addition of a gym class is the solution. However, because of the layout of a block schedule, it would not work. The most amount of gym classes a student could have is three per week. To achieve the maximum amount of efficiency, children need to move every single day.
After following an average student’s schedule for two days, a teacher/researcher found herself feeling lethargic and “desperate to move or stretch.” She also reported difficulty maintaining focus due to physical inactivity, claiming that she struggled to “keep her mind and body from slipping into oblivion after so many hours of sitting passively.” According to the Institute of Medicine, “students who are more active show greater attention, have faster cognitive processing speed, and perform better on standardized academic tests than children who are less active.“
Sitting still for too long not only leads to temporary issues but can also cause lifelong issues. A study by Stanford University discovered that prolonged amounts of inactivity, especially sitting, can cause type-2 diabetes, obesity, and heart diseases.
Schools require students to sit for nearly six to seven hours, five days a week. This is detrimental to students’ education, and it endangers their health. However, simply offering children the option to stretch during class and move around more often can fix the problems caused by sitting still.
The goal of a school is to produce well-educated and well-rounded children. So when will we actually start designing schools to meet the holistic needs of children?
Editor's Note: Nicholas Colombo is a senior at Branford High School, class of 2023. The opinions expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Branford High School or The Branford Buzz.
Deciding what to read next in The Buzz? Catch up on what you may have missed.
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