Should the School day be extended

American students really need to bring up their scores. Even compared to global standards, the U.S. is not that much ahead in reading and science, and is lagging behind in math. However, this could change if we extend the school day. Liz Rigg on The Atlantic states,""and have seen strong results. In 2013, D.C. Public Schools implemented extended hours for eight of its struggling schools and saw some of its largest gains in math and reading"" That shows that it has been done before; we just have to do it on a larger scale. It is even possible that we could rise to first! As Scholastic addressed other countries, and informed, ""students in countries such as South Korea, Singapore, Japan and China log considerably longer school days and months"", and they score significantly higher than most American students on every single international tests. We must increase our school time to increase the test scores of our beloved country. Also, if we extended the school day, the teachers would have time to discuss the plan for the day with other teachers, which would benefit the students as they would walk into the classroom and be able to start right away, and benefit the teachers, as they would not have to rush in and try to get everything ready right away. It becomes a win-win situation. Rigg also commented," Andrew Davis was a teacher at a charter school in Memphis that extended its day. In his original teaching schedule, he was given two hours to plan and collaborate with other teachers." Davis marveled, "It was great!"That demonstrates that giving more time would relieve some of the stress of the teachers. And teachers would be able to teacher other extra-curricular subjects, which brings me to my next point. Third, extending the school day would give students extra time in school. True, some of that time would be used on extending subjects like math, reading, and science, but the majority of that time would be devoted to extra-curricular activities. Students would be able to start learning second languages instead of playing video games. Students would get a head start on playing instruments instead of watching cartoons. Students would be able to have a chance in the theater instead of wrecking the neighborhood. The possibilities are endless. Charlie Friedman, Nashville Classical"s school director gushes, "Our students are learning Spanish while other kids in the community are walking home from school." That exhibits the sheer power of extending the school day. What would the other students be doing? Playing video games? Watching cartoons? Dealing drugs? Vandalism? Those possibilities for danger bring me to my last and final point. Extending the school day would be able to keep students busy someplace while working parents could continue their work without having the constant worry about what their children are doing at home. It would also keep students out of trouble. The College of DuPage websites states," If a kid is going to get into trouble, she is most likely to do so between the time school ends and the time her parents arrive home"" If the school day is extended, these students wouldn"t be able to get into trouble, because their parents would already be at home to supervise them. Worst case scenario" their parents can"t come home on time, then they can send those few children to after school activities and/or supervision. This will reduce greatly the funding for the after school program as there are less kids who need it and the money can be used for more important matters.