Many people believe that school is too stressful, while others believe its fine the way it is. Here we are going to give both sides.

Some people believe that we should give middle school students, recess/ breaks every hour. According to the Atlantic magazine, in Finland students get a mandatory 15-minute break every hour, and that includes high school. When they interviewed an American School teacher who tried it she said that she saw improvement through the system. For example, she said that the students were more focused during lessons because they weren’t restless. According to the Los Angeles Times, Finnish teachers are treated like doctors. They are some of the most respected professions, they are almost paid like doctors. When they interviewed an American mother moving to Finland what her child did in school she said as an independence learning activity — students were placed in the woods with a compass and map and told them to get back to class in 15 minutes. This taught them navigation skills AND gave them an opportunity for a break.

Opponents say that this takes away learning and studying time and hurts school performance. According to the Washington Post though, Finland ranks 12th in math, 4th in reading, and 5th in science compared to the rest of the world through a test called PISA. If you go to their official website (OPEC) and compare the U.S we find the U.S. is severely impaired. The U.S. in PISA ranked 40th in math, 25th in science and 24th in reading.  According to the Smithsonian Institute, Finnish teachers also must receive a masters (in the U.S. its a bachelor) degree in education. Thirty percent of their students also have received some kind of special help in their first nine years of school. Most classrooms in Finland are also small enough so that every student gets enough attention.

In conclusion, although recess isn’t the entire reason Finnish schools are so great, U.S. schools like Canyon Vista can still try to model them one step at a time.