Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unfortunately for some children they would not be able to stay even if they wanted. If you are a homeless child and couch surfing with your parents then that search for a spot takes all of the time you have after school. Similarly some kids at our school are living in 1 or 2 bedroom apartments with 15-25 other people. Those kids literally race out the door when the bell rings because they want to get to the apartment so they can lay out their space. Once they get their space they stay in it for the rest of the afternoon/evening except to go tot he bathroom (with someone trusted to guard the space). Getting home before others means the difference between being able to sleep lying down or sitting up Indian style or in a chair. We may not have much child labor exploitation anymore where children are forced to work from dawn to dusk but we still have children living some very harsh realities.

If you have kids like that in your school, you should report the sitution to child protection agency. Not providing a reasonable living space is a form of child abuse.

Yeah. Teachers are mandated reporters. You should make the call. It’s in the best interest of these children. That situation pp described is heartbreaking

Anonymous wrote:Unfortunately for some children they would not be able to stay even if they wanted. If you are a homeless child and couch surfing with your parents then that search for a spot takes all of the time you have after school. Similarly some kids at our school are living in 1 or 2 bedroom apartments with 15-25 other people. Those kids literally race out the door when the bell rings because they want to get to the apartment so they can lay out their space. Once they get their space they stay in it for the rest of the afternoon/evening except to go tot he bathroom (with someone trusted to guard the space). Getting home before others means the difference between being able to sleep lying down or sitting up Indian style or in a chair. We may not have much child labor exploitation anymore where children are forced to work from dawn to dusk but we still have children living some very harsh realities.

If you have kids like that in your school, you should report the sitution to child protection agency. Not providing a reasonable living space is a form of child abuse.

Unfortunately for some children they would not be able to stay even if they wanted. If you are a homeless child and couch surfing with your parents then that search for a spot takes all of the time you have after school. Similarly some kids at our school are living in 1 or 2 bedroom apartments with 15-25 other people. Those kids literally race out the door when the bell rings because they want to get to the apartment so they can lay out their space. Once they get their space they stay in it for the rest of the afternoon/evening except to go tot he bathroom (with someone trusted to guard the space). Getting home before others means the difference between being able to sleep lying down or sitting up Indian style or in a chair. We may not have much child labor exploitation anymore where children are forced to work from dawn to dusk but we still have children living some very harsh realities.

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand the perpetual flip-out of "school isn't daycare". True enough, however there is the reality that most people work 9-5 or some variation on business hours. The school day doesn't take that into account at all so... why not take a more practical approach and try to fix the issue.

What? Are we afraid to make things a little easier?

1. It’s expensive
2. It sounds like it could creep into a longer school day, meaning less time to grade, go to appointments, etc. When my husband has a doctor’s appointment, he tells his boss and just goes. His work will be there when he gets back. When I can’t get a doctor’s appointment after school, I have to write sub plans, make worksheets, ask for a sub, etc. It’s a lot of extra work, both before and after my day off. I really depend on those 4 pm slots to avoid all the extra work.

No! So much is going on in childhood and adolescence. You need a break to process it all. My room was a refuge. I can't imagine staying at school that long everyday.

I know for some kids, home is not a refuge. I guess in that case, an optional 10-hour-day would be okay. Of course, the core issue is, why isn't their home a refuge? But I suppose it's impossible to solve that.

I also think a better idea is for school AND work to be from 9-3 or 10-4. Then let everyone just be a family for the rest of the day. Another thing that will never happen...

Also, I don't really trust Kamala Harris on childhood/family issues, since she doesn't have any.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It would be done for the benefit of the parents and not the children. Let's be honest about that at least.

isnt something that benefits the parents also benefiting the kids?

No, Kamala, It doesn’t benefit children. They need daily outdoor playtime and family time.

2/3 of the students at my school can’t play outside in their neighborhoods. Most don’t have anyone waiting at home eager to hear about their day. Parents are working two jobs or overwhelmed with depression, addiction, etc. They get those needs met in our building after the instructional day ends.

As long as it's not mandatory for all kids to stay in school for 10 hours it's ok. It becomes a problem when it becomes institutionalized and kids who cannot withstand being outside of home for these many hours and whose parents can accommodate after school care are punished. Even if this long day isn't all instruction and HW, it's still tough on small children, they cannot relax as much as they can at home, they are not free to do things they may do at home or outside, like playdates with friends who don't attend the same school, or extracurruculars, or simply unwinding without having to be in the company of their classmates, especially if they may have social problems. I think it's nice to have extended day option for daycare reasons, but it should be optional.

And/Or employers should give working parents (or actually give this to all employees) more flexible schedules so they can pick up their kids from school. Most people’s jobs really aren’t that important that people need to be working 10 hour days.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our school is open 11 hours per day when you factor in extended day

Most school have after school care - although in our district at least it's not run be the schools. It contracted to an outside company.

Our school is also open 11 hours with the extended day. I am new to the US, so just assumed that all schools were. If not, of course it makes sense to have kids be for extended day at school. How can any working parent pick up their kids at 3:30?

Working parents cannot pick their kids up at 3:30. They have to hire a sitter to do so like everyone else or use any of the other options available such as park district after care, a neighbor, etc.

Why not just call for more schools to have OPTIONAL extended day/SACC/aftercare?
This is fine & helpful to many people.
A 10 hour actual school day is a horrible idea. But these are two totally different things. Which one is Harris advocating for?

The person who posted that this isn't really for low-income families is right on. The people who benefit most from this are people with parent(s) with white collar jobs that work from 9 until 6, for example. Note that those who benefit most are also going to be those where the parents drive to and from work and can pick up and drop off in a car.

Low-income families do tend to rely on family or community care (grandparents, etc.) and public transit (bus drops kids off at home, kids stay with sibling or grandparent at home) and have different hours where they need care (shift work in manufacturing and retail, plus for restaurant workers, uber drivers, and bartenders the most lucrative hours often go late into the evening).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our school is open 11 hours per day when you factor in extended day

Most school have after school care - although in our district at least it's not run be the schools. It contracted to an outside company.

Our school is also open 11 hours with the extended day. I am new to the US, so just assumed that all schools were. If not, of course it makes sense to have kids be for extended day at school. How can any working parent pick up their kids at 3:30?

They try to get off work at 4 and meet the bus at 4:15-4:30. (In my neighborhood, everyone takes the bus regardless of whether parents work.)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our school is open 11 hours per day when you factor in extended day

Most school have after school care - although in our district at least it's not run be the schools. It contracted to an outside company.

Our school is also open 11 hours with the extended day. I am new to the US, so just assumed that all schools were. If not, of course it makes sense to have kids be for extended day at school. How can any working parent pick up their kids at 3:30?

Anonymous wrote:Our school is open 11 hours per day when you factor in extended day

Most school have after school care - although in our district at least it's not run be the schools. It contracted to an outside company.

Anonymous wrote:Why do folks think this is just for poor kids? Our HHI is 200K+ and this would be *marvelous* for our family. We'd be sunk without aftercare. Most of the families we know need some sort of care structure that will accommodate full time work.

I also caution against approaches that prioritize more schoolwork in extended days. Kids need free and unstructured play built in to the school day.

THIS! I am a teacher and this is my biggest concern about the extended day and the additional days. IMO kids need a lot more free and unstructured free time.

OTH an extended day -could- strongly benefit kids at high poverty schools if they have supervised unstructured play AND they also are provided an opportunity to play in organized sports. One of my observations about the distinction between low SES and middle class students is that my middle class students have learned skills from their organized sports that they bring into my classroom every day. And those skills benefit them strongly in their academic work. My low SES students are not as good at working with others, they have less resilience, they have less willingness to take risks, and they have less understanding of how following protocols and taking orderly steps can positively impact outcomes. All of these things are skills that you learn from being on a team and working competitively with a group.

I don't know what the answer is. As much as I like some of the things that Harris is saying, I don't think this plan would ever get off of the ground just because it would be so expensive.