Ask anyone and I’m pretty sure they would tell you they want longer weekends. Students start looking forward to 3pm on Friday the minute their alarm wakes them up on Monday morning. Weekends are opportunities for students to let go of stress and to focus on the activities they enjoy. Some people just want longer weekends because they’re too lazy, busy, or what have you to focus on school. Longer weekends would make school more enriching and exciting for students because it would give them more opportunities for self-directed work.

If Friday was dissolved into the weekend and the week was shortened to a Monday through Thursday schedule, there would be more time for students to work independently on projects and get something out of their school work. Too often, I see students having to choose between finishing an assignment and getting something out of it.

Longer weekends would not mean decreased expectations, but quite the opposite. They would enable students to work where they are comfortable and spend quality time on their homework. Spending less time in class would mean that students could apply their education through projects that require them to go into their communities. Students could also have more flexible work and internship schedules.

Classes could transition toward a more student-run system. Longer weekends would force students, instead of just teachers, to be accountable for their learning. Students would have to be more independent to be successful.

It would be more similar to the more self directed formats of higher education and of many jobs. The current week is constricting to the point of being counterproductive.