School starts at 8:05 a.m., school ends at 3:00 p.m. That is almost seven hours, and it’s longer for students who have zero hour which starts at 7:03 a.m. 

  During these hours that students are at school, we have to go to six classes. All of our classes are 59 minutes long, however, we only get 45 minutes for lunch. 

  As of right now, seniors are the only ones who get free periods, juniors can have a free period if they take AP classes once they take their exam in May. In high school, studies have shown that junior year is the hardest and most stressful year. I believe that a lot of the stress would be taken away and that year would feel a little bit easier if juniors had a free period too. 

  Homework is nothing new or unusual, homework is something that we all get in all of our classes. According to U.S News, students spend on average around 17.5 hours a week doing their homework or around 3.5 hours a day. Most high school students also have jobs after school. On average, students under 16 work for three hours after school, and students who are 16 and 17 can work up to four hours legally after school every day. 

  Most juniors are between the ages of 16 and 17. Three and a half hours of homework a night and four hours of work every day is seven and a half hours working on tasks after school. Meaning juniors will finish their responsibilities at around 10:30 pm. Not to mention study time after homework, time for dinner, and time to get ready for the next day. With all of that, the time would be around 11:30 p.m. If school starts at 8:05 a.m. then most teens will wake up between 6:00 a.m. or 7:00 a.m., leaving around seven hours of sleep. It is also proven that a high school student needs eight to 10 hours of sleep every night to be ready and refreshed for the day ahead. 

  If juniors had a study hour or free period it would reduce the amount of time taken up for homework and students could go to sleep earlier and be better refreshed for the next day at school. Students would be more awake, alert, and ready for their classes, they wouldn’t be as tired due to the extra sleep they could get because of a free period.