Binge Watching : Good Or Bad?

When the alarm clock sets off at 6:00 A.M., it's another grueling morning that follows with making the bed, washing up, dressing, and leaving to take the bus by 7:00 A.M. Sometimes, you're lucky enough to get a ride or drive yourself to school to get an extra five to ten minutes of sleep and squeeze in breakfast, hoping you make it in time for first period at 7:45 A.M. A daily routine like this is all too familiar and high school is a challenge for students, more than just academically. For four years, high school students face a similar routine of waking up in the early hours of the morning to head to school before 8 o'clock, for five days a week.

Time management was a vital element that I had to incorporate into my daily routine. My entire family had to adjust to the new stressors that were introduced with my decision of returning to school. The normal routine that they had grown accustomed to was no longer practical. It was difficult for them to accept that I was no longer the primary source of everyday responsibilities. This new adaptation was difficult and stressful for them to accept. However, the willingness to accept their new roles ended with a positive outcome for everyone involved.

Many schools are now organizing school day schedules to maximize instructional time and minimize non-instructional time, such as recess (Pellegrini & Bohn, 2005). Schools made this shift in response to increased state testing and the associated pressures of funding. Some also believe that the shift to more instructional time and less non-instructional time was worsened with the adoption of Common Core standards in elementary schools. However, this may not be the best move for schools or for long-term student success.

School-related stress has its roots in many different places. On a national scale, surveys and research have in fact confirmed that “school-related pressures were the primary source of stress for the majority of younger and older children” (qtd. in Blazer 2). Not long ago, kindergartens were places for children to play and learn basics, like the alphabet, but now all of it has changed to teaching kids about test taking, doing reading/writing exercises, and even homework (Blazer 4). In an article titled, “Success with Less Stress,” Jerusha Conner, an Assistant Professor of Education at Villanova University, and his partners conducted a study to find what students say about the causes of school stress. The research revealed that standardized tests, large assignments, and college admissions were very frequent answers. Exceeding competition has also caused stress among students because they feel the need to build the best résumé, and this leads to over-scheduled days (Redding). The modernization of the Collin’s theory states that, “the ‘overscheduling hypothesis’ embodies a more recent belief that it is the volume of activities that provides a boost in the application process and that students need

While students are attending school for an eight hour day, they are bombarded with a lot of work and being taught all day. When it is time for students to come home from school, it’s

“49 percent of students reported feeling “a great deal of stress” on a daily basis. Half reported doing three or more hours of homework per night, and 26 percent noted that they had been diagnosed with depression” (Ossola, 1). With all that is expected of students in school, some rules she be changed to reduce these crazy issues. If schools would reduce homework, start school later, changed dress codes, and extend lunches, student would thrive and succeed more in school.

A problem that burdens classrooms across the nation is a lack of energy and fatigue. Early start times for school cause students to wake-up early, and the large amounts of homework cause them to stay up late. The lack of sleep affects teenage student worst of all because their developing brains need the most sleep possible. Consequently, students’ grades could begin to suffer because they are not retaining information. “I feel exhausted and unable to learn,” says a student when asked how she feels in her first-hour class. Research states that the average school start time is 8:00. To avoid this dilemma, schools should start classes later, have a study period first-hour in lieu of an actual class, or assign less homework so students can get to bed at a reasonable time.

The average school day starts between 7:30 to 8:30. Students wake up way earlier than this time to be able to prepare for school. Then the normal school day lasts at least 7 hours. As a result of schools starting too early, students are cognitively affected, struggle with prior commitments, and consequently, a student’s education begins to falter along with the school's reputation.

Some things I already knew about this topic were that watching too much tv will make your brain less attentive when watching tv. I also knew that if you sit on your couch all day you will become a couch potato and get fat. I also knew that when parents tell you your brain turns to mush when you watch tv, that it isn't true. Before my research I didn't really know much about binge watching and I thought it was a lot worse than it actually is.

Binge watching has started to become popular since Netflix put seasons of TV shows on its online network. This has allowed people to binge watch a whole season in a day, week, or month on their own time “This term gained traction most notably with the recent Netflix-only release of the fourth Arrested Development season, as all fifteen episodes were released simultaneously rather than, episodically” (Giuffre 2013). This bad habit is something that I have gone through; it can also be harmful to people’s health. However, you can break your bad habit of binge watching.

Have you ever wished that you could wake up with not a worry in the world? I know I have but life hits hard doesn’t it? As a young child in elementary school or even not in school yet life is easy I would say. The kids don’t have too much on their plate, all they are worried about is nap time, snack time, recess time you know fun thing. Then suddenly you grow up! Remember all the fun times you had? Now it’s all about work time, class time, dinner time heck half the time we don’t even know what bed time is. Although it all may seem scary and hard there are ways to balance school, work and family.

Every parent wants the best education for their child. Every year parents from around the world send their children to private school, tutoring, and even after school lessons to help them learn as much as possible. Yet an often unseen method of educational improvement in this country is starting school at a later hour. At a period in their lives in which they naturally want to wake up later. Students are forced to wake up earlier than ever before. By moving the starting time for school students can see improvements in everything from grades, to attendance, to mental well being.

Every morning, I woke up at 5:30 a.m. to prepare lunch for my mom. After finishing nine classes, I went straight home to help my grandma cook dinner. While she went to visit my mom, I washed the dishes quickly to have enough time for doing homework.

As a kid today there are lots of different things that we need to do, both in academic and

    With these long school days children don’t have much time to go out and be a kid.  By the time children get home and finish all their homework, there really isn’t much time for sports or spending time with friends and family. Long hours of school put too much pressure on students.  According to the state, students are supposed to have three and a half hours of homework a night. Students are assigned about 17 hours of homework a week. There is a total of 168 hours in a week and 64 of those hours are taken from us by school and homework.  Out of the 24 hours in a day school, homework, and sleep take 18 hours, which leaves students with just 6 hours to do things.  Combine that with sports and after school activities, the average practice for most sports are 2 to 3 hours, which leaves the student with only 3 hours for themselves. If you add dinner into the equation which can take up to an hour ,then students only have two hours a day. Some students also have chores which can take up to an hour or even sometimes more.  What can a student do with only 1 hour of time a day for their personal goals.