When a Chicago Tribune 2014 survey revealed a much higher degree of stress from LT students as opposed to students at other suburban high schools, I think the student body was expecting more than a stingy 25-minute study hall. For the students who say their homework loads of four to six hours an evening is what is causing stress, the 25 minutes does virtually nothing to help them.

The main purpose of this “study hall for all” is to allow students to relieve their stress, as students involved in extracurriculars hardly have any time for homework. This 25 minute study hall gives practically no time for students to be able to get into a rhythm and actually finish a reasonable amount of homework to leave at school.

The time will maybe allow a worksheet or two to be completed, which in the grand scheme of four hours of homework, doesn’t make a difference. And this is for students who are staying focused and locked in on completing something. In the study halls that get too noisy, it’s almost pointless to have the class.

A focus of this study hall, to allow students to improve their understanding of material, also has been made impossible. With the current setup, a student is only allowed to talk and go to a teacher if they have a failing grade in the class. While some teachers will indeed have classes during these study hall periods, there are also a fair amount who do not, causing this policy to make less sense than the Seahawks passing on the one yard line. If this 25-minute period is implemented to improve students comprehension of classes, then why are they not permitted to see teachers about questions and concerns until it is too late?

In order for this study hall to actually hold some value to those students with too much going on, two things need to be done. First, the length of the period needs to be extended to at least 40 minutes, a time sufficient enough that students can focus and complete some of the larger assignments that would take up substantial time at home. At the current duration of the period, I honestly would rather end school 25 minutes earlier at 2:40 instead of wasting it in the school.

Another thing to be done is to allow students to go to teachers they need help from. With practice or a club after school every day, it’s difficult to make time for getting help for all seven classes. Only letting students who are failing to visit teachers won’t improve students’ performance in their classes and help them outside of school.

As a student of Lyons Township, I feel that it is obligated to all 4,000 of us to be able to get the help needed to relieve the exponentially higher levels of stress as compared to local schools. The current study hall needs to be fixed in order to serve the students that right.