If schools actually care about students and their well-beings, then shortening the school year should be one of their top priorities.

There’s no doubt that students are overstressed from the piles of homework and expectations that are required of them. In order to have a mental break from all of the stress, students need a longer summer vacation to spend more time with family and friends.

“Stress, constant worry, and thoughts about academics and other responsibilities are a lot on the mind and body,” said Julie Carr Smyth of The Big Story. “[Students] feel lethargic and find it difficult to wake up in the mornings, feel drowsy in their classes and have low energy throughout the day.”

By reducing the amount of days in the school year, students can relieve their school pressures and have overall better mental and physical health.  They would be able to relax more since they have extra days of summer vacation.

Phys-ed and health teacher Rebecca Finotti said, “If schools were cut short, kids could get more sleep in the course of the whole year.”

President Obama, on the other hand, supports having a longer academic year in order to improve test results.

“American students are falling behind some of their foreign counterparts, especially in math and science, and that’s got to change,” Obama said on NBC. He thinks adding one more month to the school year will benefit students because they will have an easier time remembering what they learned the past year.

But does extending the school year actually make a difference in learning?

According to Jim Hull from the Center for Public Education, “A longer year does not seem to relate to student performance. We’ve been extending the school year for some time now and still haven’t seen a positive difference in test scores.”

Tanya Lee of Global Post further confirms this belief. “A CNN report notes that Miami-Dade Country Schools in Florida abandoned its extended day program after three years because test scores were not improving,” she wrote.

This just goes to show that presidents aren’t always right.

Obviously, nine months of school are more than enough to properly educate students, so shortening the school year, even by weeks, probably won’t result in an extreme educational loss.

Besides, who said school was the only way to get an education? Students can experience great learning opportunities outside of class by studying more of their favorite subjects and signing up for internships, jobs, camps, and even seminars.

Not only should schools shorten the academic year, but they should also reduce the amount of time spent in the school day. As a high school student, I know how tiring it is to go home and have 5 assignments due all in one day. It’s sad to waste our youth studying and working on homework rather than enjoying life by engaging in our hobbies.

With the accumulation of quizzes, homework, projects, and exams, school can be overwhelming. But by shaving off hours in the school day and the school year, students can finally get the break they deserve.