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Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Shorter summers put a crimp in families’ break
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Now that yearly testing in Georgia schools is winding down, most students and many parents are dreaming of summer holiday. Everyone, it seems, is ready for a break. The question is…will it be long enough?
As I read an article last week on the trend of shorter summers nationwide, I couldn’t help but remember my own school days and summer breaks. When asked what our favorite things about school were, my friends and I would reply: June, July and August. Several teachers in my youth had plaques that listed those months as the three best reasons for teaching school. Summer had an almost mystical quality to it. Anything was possible in June, July and August.
But a three-month summer break is almost unthinkable these days, when many U.S. children either stay in school throughout much of June or turn in their beach towels for backpacks in early August.
Some would argue that the shorter summer calendar is necessary if we ever hope to increase our academic performance. Others say smaller breaks make it easier for students to retain information from term to term.
Those may be valid points, but many parents would still rather see that extra month returned to the summer schedule if only to give back to families what they seem to be lacking the most - time. Working parents often find it difficult to schedule time off for family vacations in “short summers” because everyone is asking off for the same few weeks. That narrow window gets even narrower when you factor in other activities, from kids’ camps to pre-season athletic training programs.
Some parents argue that a two-month break leaves too little time for families to really break away and bond together. Others simply say school systems that push for ever-shorter summers simply make it easier for the families to rationalize skipping school for family trips. Georgia legislators actually introduced a bill earlier this year that would have given school systems the right to lower the number of required school days from 180 to 170 if they so chose.
So what do you think? Are Georgia’s summer holidays too short? Would you trade time with family for better academic performance?
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