As you walk through the halls of Cherry Hill East, you see students running from class to class, trying to not only manage their intense homework and project load, but also sports, music, and theater, other activities outside of school, and still juggling time to be involved in school clubs and organizations–the very things the school encourages students to get involved in.

Many members of the student body complain about the pressure they feel throughout the school day without a clear period to decompress and recharge. Study hall, a class that many students take at some point throughout their high school career, should be the solution for this, giving students a period dedicated to catching up on assignments and getting a head start on homework.

However, more often than not, this period becomes a wasted opportunity with students using the time to scroll through social media, talk to friends, nap, or walk the halls rather than actually study.

Study hall should be held as high a priority as one’s academic classes, possibly even higher. While some students fully make use of the hour to be productive, others treat it as a completely free period, or rather, a time to relax.

The lack of clear-cut rules or a set of expectations for study halls is one of the contributing factors to this issue. Some teachers treat it as another instructional period, while others simply mark attendance and then let the students choose how they would like to spend the duration of the period. In the absence of a clear understanding between the teaching staff and the students concerning the proper use of this period, the latter sometimes consider it as a less important time and, consequently, try to treat it as such.

Given the current impact of burnout and stress and its severe effects on high school students, study hall being a lost opportunity is important. The time allotted in these periods each day, even if it is only for an hour or 90 minutes, can be put to such good use as getting a head start on a homework assignment, starting to prepare for an upcoming test, working on a project, or even just creating a plan for the rest of the day.

If every student enrolled in a study hall were to concentrate every day, during study hall, complete their work with intention, it could reduce the after-school burden and give students more freedom once they go home each afternoon.

Ultimately, the benefits of a study hall are shaped by the way students use the period. It can be neither just “free time” nor “work time”, really, but rather flexible, meaningful time. If students and staff both look at it as an opportunity rather than a schedule filler, study hall could have a chance to become the very thing it was always meant to be: a place to exhale, regain focus, and get ahead in the middle of a busy day.

It’s time to change our behavior and start making study hall count.