If you've been in college or university for any amount of time, odds are you've had at least one lecturer or professor who holds you after the scheduled class period is over. Whether they're long-winded, bad time estimators, or just don't care, it's always a pain. Sure, if you don't have another class after theirs it is little more than a slight annoyance, but for the majority of students, this simply isn't the case.
The majority of students have classes after these professor's classes and college classes are almost never held in the same building back to back, so time is of the essence. When professors hold you for longer than the allotted time, it is wrong for several reasons.
Firstly, holding students past time is disrespectful of student's time and schedules. Most college students are absolutely slammed when it comes to their schedules. Juggling twelve to eighteen hours of classes, endless amounts of homework and jobs can be quite the stretch of time and resources. Time is valuable and extra time is often not allotted for.
Secondly, keeping students past the allotted time can harm a student's grade in another class. Many professors and lecturers take attendance grades and tardiness to class can often play a role in these grades, not to mention the lost information tardiness brings about. If a student is even a few minutes late to some college courses, they may lose the opportunity to take entrance quizzes, sign the roll, or even miss important lecture topics.
Finally, choosing to keep students past the allotted time is disrespectful of fellow professors' classes. These professors have been allotted time to invest in your students as well and keeping students past time may result in class disruptions from students arriving late, and removes valuable time for those same students to spend learning different topics.
So, long story short, please professors, let us out when the clock strikes done. We'll all be better for it.
Sincerely, a tired college kid.