By: Anusha Mathur ’20 and Madison Huggins ’20
Point: Madison- weekends
Counterpoint: Anusha- weekdays
Practicality:
Point: When Rest and Recharge (R & R) days are offered on weekends, students have a full two days without the pressure of assignments, projects and tests weighing down their minds. However, when offered R & R days on weekdays, students only receive one day where no assignments are given. They are not given the proper opportunity to experience the rest and relaxation promised because they can only relax for a few hours when they come home.
Counterpoint: Although the amount of time students can rest and recharge is physically less during the week, students get more out of that time than they would on the weekend. Students already spend time on the weekend going out with friends, relaxing and enjoying themselves because they have a full two days to do one night’s worth of homework. However, during the week, students only have one evening to do that same amount of homework. Because they have to spend hours doing their homework, students have no time to go out with friends and family. However, if students were not given homework and did not have any tests the next day, they could spend that time enjoying themselves rather than working for hours and staying up late finishing their homework.
Other activities:
Point: Students have a greater chunk of time and opportunity to embark on activities when R & R days are on the weekend. On weekends, they would have the chance to spend time with family in a variety of ways such as taking a road trip to a remote, serene location, traveling to visit other family members or exploring Los Angeles. There are endless opportunities placed in front of students who receive an entire stress-free weekend that aren’t presented to students when R & R days are on weekdays.
Counterpoint: Locations around LA are less crowded on weekdays. There are so many things one can do, such as going to a theme park or seeing a movie. However, during the week, students are so focused on school work and studying that spending an evening getting out of the house and having fun is almost impossible. If R & R days were during the week, students could go to these locations after school and take advantage of the time without crowds. It is rare that students have the opportunity to go to places where they can enjoy themselves. If R & R days were during the week, they would be able to “beat the crowds” as well. However, if R & R days were on the weekends, theme parks and other locations would be just as crowded as usual.
Rest and Sleep:
Point: If R & R days were offered on weekdays, it would put students at a significant disadvantage because students would still be required to attend school for the usual eight hours and would only be given one night without homework if they were during the week. Once at home, students will have very limited time to catch up on the relaxation intended and will have hardly any opportunity to engage in activities one would hope to when given a night off of homework. If students were given two entire days homework-free, they would be greeted with an endless scale of opportunities.
Counterpoint: Having R & R days during the week is best to help students catch up on much needed sleep and rest. On the weekends, students do not need to stay up late to catch up on homework or study for tests because they have Friday night and another 48 hours to finish it. Since students catch up on sleep during the weekend anyway, having no homework does not significantly benefit them. Although spending four hours out of a whole weekend to do homework is not much, during the week students often come home really late, and that is precious time students could be using to relax rather than staying up late to complete their work.
Conclusion:
Point: In short, R & R days will undoubtedly prove to serve a more effective and beneficial purpose to students when or if they are offered over the weekend. It might appear to a student that during the week is the most stressful time, and a night of relaxation would ease that stress. However, by requiring students to still endure an eight hour school day only to be greeted with a couple hours free completely defeats the purpose of rest and relaxation period. When those few hours of “free time” have disappeared students are still faced to tackle the rest of the week’s duties with no breaks in between work. On the other hand, students will have the time to relax not only on Friday night but over the span of two entire days if given an R & R day during the weekend. They will be able to return to school on Monday more rested and recharged than ever, and this is what having such a day was meant to achieve.
Counterpoint: The purpose of R & R days is to give students time to rest and do activities they enjoy. The weekend is a large chunk of time, and it is not difficult for students to find a few hours to complete their homework. That time is much more precious during the week. Weekdays are the time when students most need to “rest and recharge,” and if R & R days are offered during the
