Lighten Up!

By: Anna Dryden

Walk into any classroom at Manual High School and the scene is always the same. Students sit at desks, taking notes or doodling on their folders. The sound of stomachs grumbling or noses sniffling can be heard, along with the occasional cough or yawn. Every once in a while, snippets of conversation from passerby in the hallway are heard, and a few giggles escape the students and teacher. The scent of lunch wafts through the ventilation system. The temperature of the room is as unpredictable and unexpected as weather in the Ohio River Valley. There is one more thing that all classrooms have in common, something that can attract the attention of even the most diligent of students. With its constant hum, and stark, unflattering, flickering illumination, it draws students minds and ears like moths to a light bulb. It is fluorescent light. This bland, distraction-free environment that teachers and schools have been perfecting for years is the exact cause of the problem they are trying to prevent. A recent study done by the University of Georgia found that students who studied under natural and full-spectrum lights remembered more of the material than students who studied under fluorescents. Robert Sower, a professor of educational psychology at the University of California- Davis, found through his studies that students learning in a classroom in which twenty percent of the wall space was devoted to windows scored twenty four percent better on a test than students who were taught in a room with less window space. The Human Ecological Sociological Economic (HESE) Project determined that fluorescent light can trigger symptoms of ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). Furthermore, they found that some autistic students are unable to tolerate the flickering illumination provided by fluorescents. Instead of using flourescent lights all the time or replacing all the lights with LEDs, how about a simpler solution. Just turn off those pesky flourescents and pull up the shades! Weve got plenty of natural light right outside and its all free. No fancy LED lights or special chemically

treated lenses needed. Even better news is that Manual is already set up to be lit with natural light. Up through the 1950s and into the early 60s almost all school buildings in the United States were intentionally designed to provide sufficient interior daylight for normal daytime visual tasks. The building were in today was built in 1934. Weve all seen those signs around school from the environmental club telling students and teachers to turn out their lights when its bright out and we really need to start taking those seriously. According to an investigation done by Pacific Gas and Electric Company for the California Board of Education Turning off electric lights when sufficient daylight is available can save a significant amount of lighting energy costs. Because daylight introduces less heat into a building than the equivalent amount of electric light, cooling costs can be reduced. Thats good news for the earth and the schools wallet.

Even the brightest of students will struggle to pay attention at some point in the school day. Why must students fight such a difficult battle when their inability to pay attention is so easily solved? Teachers, please lift up the shades. Were all still missing summer but if you want us to learn, make it a little easier for us to pay attention.