Sun, Summer, School

For many students, summer break is a breath of fresh air from the stress and pressure of their academics, not to mention the large amount of homework. While some students choose this time to lounge for hours at a time, others choose to capitalize on their free time by being productive. However, because a majority of their minds are focused on everything but school, summer break is the time when most of the content learned in class is lost. As a result, when the next year rolls around, students must spend the first few weeks of school reviewing the material they have forgotten; this takes valuable time away from students which could be spent focusing on new material. Although many may oppose the idea of cutting summer break, year-round schooling has grown in popularity since 1986.
One benefit of year-round schooling is a decrease in “summer learning loss” which occurs when there is no incentive to practice the material learned from the previous school year. With a steady stream of assignments and application of learned material, students can spend more time absorbing new material rather than reviewing what they have already learned. Another benefit is that with more frequent breaks, students have more chances to recuperate from school work on a timely basis.
In comparison to America, other nations have more school days and spend more time instructing students in a class. In response to these differences, President Obama suggested cutting summer vacation and extending the school day in order to improve the American education system.
However, cutting summer vacation is not without its drawbacks. Going to school day after day can be draining even with frequent weeklong breaks. Those three months of summer vacation serve as the ultimate reward for having endured long hours of hard work and is the ideal time for students to focus on something other than their studies. Students can find summer jobs, work on summer projects or go on family vacations that give students the opportunity to enjoy their youth. Also, the administration would struggle to cover the costs of running its institution throughout the year. Considering the government’s recent sacrifices regarding education budgeting and the additional costs of year-round schooling, extracurricular activities such as sports and arts would be further cut. It is also possible that the costs of running the facility year round might be too great and the quality of education would deteriorate, ultimately hurting the students.

Katherine Ong
Staff Writer