Standing Desks are Rising in Popularity
Standing desks may have only recently gained popularity, but the idea of them has been around for centuries.
According to a New York Times article, “Who Made That Standing Desk” by Daniel Engber, “a sedentary life may be injurious,” Job Orton, a Presbyterian minister, said in 1797. “It must therefore be your resolute care to keep your body as upright as possible when you read and write; never stoop your head nor bend your breast. To prevent this, you should get a standing desk.”
According to the Washington Post, for generations students have been told to sit down and be quiet. Students who had trouble staying still were often reprimanded for not paying attention.
According to an article in the Washington Post, “Standing desks at schools: The solution to the childhood obesity epidemic?” written by Ariana Cha, children can spend an average of 65-70% of their waking hours sitting down. Any extended period of time spent sitting or standing can be bad for health and lead to problems such as poor circulation, back pain, and varicose veins.
Recently, many schools have adopted the idea of the standing desk. Converting the old school common desks into desks which have chairs at standing height, so students can choose to sit or stand, along with a “fidget bar” so that students are free to move their feet without disrupting other students.
“I would use them in my classroom in a heartbeat, but there is a limited budget. They keep the students more focused and locked into what they are doing, whereas when they are sitting it’s easy to drift off,” says David Bechtel, a teacher at Arrowhead High School.
According to CNN, last August Juliet Starlett and her husband raised money to get standing desks their daughter’s fourth grade classroom. When they reach their $150,000 goal, all 450 students in the school will have the opportunity to take advantage of the benefits of standing desks. Starlett and her husband later founded a nonprofit, Stand Up Kids, with the eventual goal of getting standing desks in every school across the country.
Alexandria Country Day School in Alexandria, Virginia was one of the first schools to implement adjustable standing desks in every middle school classroom. It’s the students’ choice to decide whether they want to sit, stand, or even kneel. This is all because of an anonymous $3 million donation, which the school used to renovate every classroom to improve learning conditions.
However, there are those who do not believe in the use of standing desks.
“I don’t think I’d use it in highschool, I’m way used to sitting down and getting my work done. It would definitely be a big change. However, I could see how it would be helpful for students who have trouble concentrating,” says Sarah Smith, a senior at AHS.
According to the Huffington Post, it is believed that standing desks may be more harmful than helpful. The International Journal of Epidemiology conducted a study beginning in 1985, consisting of 3,720 men and 1,412, over the course of 16 years. Of those volunteers, 420 had died by 2001.
Yet, it was determined there was no correlation between time spent sitting and death rate.
“Any stationary posture where energy expenditure is low may be detrimental to health, be it sitting or standing. The results cast doubt on the benefits of sit-stand work stations.” Dr. Melvyn Hillsdon, an associate professor at the University of Exeter, told the Huffington Post.