COME UP with a list of school children's top nightmares and it would probably include a number of old favorites. One old stand-by is the one where your classmates are pointing and snickering at you and you can't figure out why - until you look down and realize that you've come to school naked. Another is the one where you arrive at class and find out there's a test you didn't know about. And then there's the mother of all school-related nightmares: the one where school never ends. Hours pass, seasons change, and algebra class just never, ever draws to a close.
Sadly, the never-ending school nightmare is becoming reality for many students across the nation. In many districts, school officials have gotten rid of the traditional two-month-long summer vacation and are sending students to school year-round with periodic three-week breaks. The trend is spreading to northern Virginia, home to many University students. According to The Washington Post, five Alexandria schools are considering changing to the year-round schedule by the fall of next year. There are some benefits to the plan, including the elimination of the "summer slump" problem, where students' reading and math abilities deteriorate over the vacation due to lack of use. Year-round school should not become a nation-wide fad, however. It poses practical problems, and to put it bluntly, getting rid of summer vacation is both sick and wrong.
Doing away with the long summer break poses several obvious problems. Day care is a major issue. A 2001 Bureau of Labor Statistics study shows that, in 63.2 percent of married-couple families, both parents are employed. That number jumps for single parent employment rates: 74.5 percent of single mothers and 85.2 percent of single fathers are employed. When there is no stay-at-home parent, the school system's imposition of several breaks throughout the year poses a major day care problem for families. Under the current school schedule, parents can send kids to camp for the summer if there will be no one available to care for them during the day. Under the year-round schedule parents are not afforded such an option.
When school principals talk about the plan, they speak of it in terms of providing "summer learning" for students. However, summer can be used for types of learning that do not take place inside the classroom and that can be as important to enriching students' minds and lives as regular schooling. At summer space programs, soccer camps and summer academic programs at universities, kids explore special interests and develop life-long skills. Learning about what it takes to be an astronaut or how to horseback ride might not be the same kind of learning experience as algebra class, but these activities enrich children in ways that they may not experience inside the classroom. All such enrichment opportunities are taken away from children if their schools operate year-round.
Another casualty of year-round schooling would be the family bonding that often takes place during summer vacation trips. Sure, that road trip to Florida where your entire family was crammed into a small car for nine hours straight may have seemed painful then, but a good deal of family bonding probably resulted from it. For families that have relatives living far away, summer vacation allows them to reconnect with relatives who might not live nearby. A summer break also affords immigrant families an opportunity to go back to their home countries and allow their children to spend some time there. Kids get a chance to reconnect with their relatives not living in America. They also have the opportunity to gain an understanding and appreciation of their native country's culture, as well as a chance to brush up on their native language.
The eight year-old in everyone knows that something really would be lost if year-round school was imposed and the summer break became splintered over the seasons. Summer is more than the barbecues and tire swings that advertisers use to sell Country Time lemonade to you. For kids, it is a time to run around barefoot, to stay at the pool all day, to eat too many hot dogs. In short, it is a time for kids to be kids. It is no large tragedy if, in the midst of their summer fun, children forget their multiplication tables. In an ever scarier and more competitive world, it is necessary that there is a point where the school year ends and children get a chance to act silly and carefree, even though they may forget what the product of seven times nine is and their standardized test scores may suffer as a result.
Rather than inflicting mandatory year-round school on all students, school administrators should continue to offer it as an option to those kids who they believe could truly benefit from it, including ESL students and kids who need to catch up on certain subjects. That way, there is maximum benefit for some and minimum pain for all.
(Laura Sahramaa is a Cavalier Daily opinion editor. She can be reached at lsahramaa@cavalierdaily.com.)
Read More
PARTING SHOT: Prides and joys
By Shaleah Tolliver | 16 hours agoI have seen what student journalism can do — it can highlight the marginalized, influence the majority and spark conversations.
PARTING SHOT: Failure does define you
By Grace Duregger | 16 hours agoFour years at the University have taught me what it means to make an impact despite setbacks.
PARTING SHOT: On fighting imposter syndrome and being cool
By Mary Kurbanov | YesterdayUltimately, though, I now know that success in a role is possible if deep-seated passion is the main source of motivation.
