I think that the decision made by South Windsor Public Schools to pilot a “lock-in” program is an excellent choice that was long overdue. While I am really upset about this being offered the year after I graduate, I think that offering this option will be beneficial to students and for the performance of the school as a whole

With a lock-in period, juniors and seniors in good academic standing will have the option to come to school an hour late and essentially skip first period four days of the week. Currently, we only have the lockout option, where students leave school an hour early and miss the last period of the school day. However, I agree that offering both these options is ideal and will have positive results.

On average, high schoolers get around seven hours of sleep per night. With responsibilities like finishing homework, clubs, sports, work and other obligations, students find themselves going to be around 11pm or even the early hours of the morning. According to Nationwide Children’s Hospital, highschool students need on average 9 ½ hours for a healthy night’s sleep.

“It would have been very beneficial for my health throughout high school,” said senior Andrew Capossela, who will not have the opportunity for lock-in. “I know that on average, I go to bed around midnight and get 4 to 5 hours of sleep.”

Getting more sleep per night will in turn be very beneficial for students and school performance. We need to get enough sleep every night essentially to recharge for the next school day. If students get more sleep, they will be more driven in their classes, will have a greater attention span and put in their best effort. An increase in sleep will drive up student motivation, therefore bring up our schools performance as a whole since students will get better grades.

The issue for students now is figuring out whether or not to take in a lock in or lock out. I know that I would take a lock in period because I really value my sleep and struggle everyday to wake up in time for school. Other students want lock out because they do sports or afterschool activities, and therefore want a break between these activities in the afternoon.

So what will you do? A full school day? A lock in? Or a lock out?