Chris Christie announces he wants schools in New Jersey to have a longer school day and to expand the school year as well.

There is a lot of controversy about education. Nowadays students seem to have more and more pressure to learn more before college. Stress is probably at an ultimate high right now with the amount of requirements pushed onto us, thinking it will give us a better chance to get into a college. Now Chris Christie has suggested having longer school hours and a longer school year. This could either be beneficial or detrimental.

If the school day got changed to longer hours, this could add even more stress on students. There would be less time for after school sports, and they would be probably have to start later. This impedes on homework time as well. These athletes that do extra-curricular activities will have to start homework later, meaning they would stay up later. Proper sleep is vital for a growing teenager. If a teenager does not receive enough sleep, this may affect them during the day in a very bad way.

On the other hand, having a longer school day could allow sufficient time to teach more in a year. The students will be more prepared and understand more for when they go away to college. Especially for AP students, who many times have to do more work at home than in class, more time in school would require less study time at home. Teachers would have an opportunity to teach thoroughly.

Due to the long break of the summer, most students do not remember a thing they learned two and a half months ago. They have to refresh their memory, and usually the first couple weeks of school, students are rusty and need some time getting back in the school year mindset. But some teachers, like AP and IB teachers, must start intense teaching right from the start in order to properly prepare their students for their exam in May. However, at the same time, students do need a mental brain break from school with the summer. Otherwise, their brain would probably be on overload.

If New Jersey changed their education standards, this could be beneficial and harmful. It could work if it meant less homework. The standard would be bad if it caused even more stress on the students.

News express Christie’s opinion on this plan. “If my children are living under the same school calendar that I lived under, by definition that school calendar is antiquated – antiquated both educationally and culturally for the world we live in,” Christie said. “It is time to lengthen both the school day and school year in New Jersey…. These children need more time in school, some of them to catch up, some of them to excel more.”