As a student, the school’s decision to have a closed advisory and have students stay in their second-period class every Friday for two hours just makes things harder. It takes away time to hang out with friends or work on different classes, adds extra stress to the already busy day, and makes something that could be simpler, more complicated.

Closed advisory limits the time students spend with friends, especially the ones students don’t have in a class. Advisory is one of the few times students can catch up, but with closed advisory, students are stuck in their second-period class with people they may not know or have any type of chemistry with.

Stuck in second period every day, you can’t meet your friends and miss out on those quick chats, laughs, and moments of bonding with people I don’t see the rest of the day. I get that advisory is for checking in with teachers, but I think it should also be a time for students to relax and talk to each other, no matter which class we’re in.

Another problem with closed advisory is that it adds more stress to the week. For example, if students have a closed advisory on a Friday, it feels like the day just gets harder because some teachers like having their tests on Friday too.

If students had a closed advisory earlier in the week like Monday, we wouldn’t have to worry about it on Friday. It’s not that we don’t want to hear what our teachers have to say, I just feel like it’s one more thing standing between the students and the sweet gift of the weekend. If we could get the closed advisory out of the way earlier, it would make the end of the week so much easier and fun at the same time.

I’m not saying advisory should be gone though. It’s important to have a time designated to talk to teachers, check on the progress you made that week, or even just discuss school in general. But I think advisory should be more flexible. What if students could meet with different teachers or even just have a more relaxed time to hang out with friends? That would make the day feel more connected and less stressful.

Closed advisory isn’t really helping us as much as it could. If we made it more flexible and less stressful, it could give you more time to socialize and make the school day better overall.

Every week, Monday through Thursday, students have a 30 minute break between second and third period. This break, known as advisory, is a time for students to catch up on work, socialize, or just take a break from work. However, on Fridays, advisory is often used to educate students on social emotional learning points, mental health issues, and other things that impact student safety.

There is a lot of controversy on whether closed advisory on Fridays is worth it. Some students feel that the lessons are common sense, or that they are simply a waste of time. While there is some validity to these statements, there is an importance to closed advisory that many students do not realize.

Many of the lessons, such as those that address drug abuse and addictions, appear to be clear cut. Students may feel that it is obvious that drugs are harmful, but these lessons teach us more than that. They teach us how addictions start, and how to deal with peer pressure, which are things that could really help students now or in the future.

Another argument against closed advisory is that there are much better things for students to be doing. However, enforcing closed advisory ensures that students have a structured time to learn about issues that could impact them and their peers. Having advisory lessons allows for students to educate themselves on how to handle certain situations, whether that be in terms of conflict resolution, proactivity, or mental health related issues, and sets up students for success.

There are times in which closed advisory can seem pointless, and the lessons seem dull, but they are an overall necessary part of the week for students all over campus.