The seven-hour school day has been crushing teenage souls for generations.

This pandemic could permanently change how high school is structured https://trib.al/cRV1jW8 

Students only learn when they are focused.

Yet surveys have long shown that teenagers spend most of their day bored, zoned out and only pretending to listen https://trib.al/LtvuMlV 

For decades, high schoolers have forced themselves to get up at the crack of dawn and sleepwalk their way to first-period by 8:00 a.m. They then go to six or seven classes, leave school, and:

Play sports
Head to theater
Go to jobs
Finish homework https://trib.al/LtvuMlV 

But then something wonderful happens in the lives of teenagers: they go to college and the chains drop away.

Their in-person class time drops to 15 hours a week, even with a full course load. Just three hours a day! https://trib.al/LtvuMlV 

In return for freedom, college students are expected to:

Do loads of independent work
Participate in group projects
Show up for office hours
Watch online lectures
Complete hands-on laboratory work https://trib.al/LtvuMlV 

This raises an obvious question: Why can’t our high schools look more like college?

What if kids could choose an every-other-day schedule? Or select a morning or afternoon schedule rather than attending all day long? https://trib.al/LtvuMlV 

At least for the upcoming fall semester, moving to Half-Time High will be a necessity.

The only way for schools to social distance is to operate below capacity. This means running two shifts – either mornings and afternoons, or every other day https://trib.al/LtvuMlV 

If we don’t want kids to learn half as much, that means continuing with online learning — and lots more independent study — while at home.

If done right, these disruptions could introduce some long-overdue reforms in the way high school is structured https://trib.al/LtvuMlV