The Case Against Summer Vacation

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http://www.time.com/time/nation/article ... 54,00.html

I think what they should do is instead of having a total of 1,080 hours, it should be 1,000 hours. Then have 200 school days and instead of 6 hour school days make it 5 hour school days. In South Korea they have 204 days and 2.7 hour school days.

I would agree that having a 2 month long summer break is a royal pain in the ass. I ended up getting so jaded with school by the time May rolled around that I would slack off a bit in class, and then once summer started I would have nothing to do, plus by the time September rolled around I could barely remember anything from the previous year.

I personally think that we should keep the amount of days and hours in school the same, but gradually start adjusting the breaks so that by the end we have 9 weeks of school followed by a 4 week break, then repeat that cycle. This would result in 4 9-week periods with a month in between for each year. (For those mathematically inclined, 1 school week = 5 school days, and 4*9*5=180, which means everyone still gets the same time in school as now. Also, there are 52 weeks in a year: 9 school weeks + 4 off weeks = 13 weeks total, 13*4 = 52).

There are three primary advantages for this setup:

1) With more time off throughout the year, rather than one huge cluster during the summer, it will be easier for families of school-age children to plan outings and trips, especially if said trip is seasonally-dependent (such as skiing, which you really can't do in the summer)
2) Because the breaks are shorter, it will be easier to retain information learned before the break once school is back in session.
3) Because the off days are scheduled throughout the year, students will be less worn out as the end of the school period approaches, because they've only been in school for 9 weeks as opposed to 9 months.

So, I personally would not miss summer vacation provided this alternative. Then again, my days as a student are over if you don't count college, and I doubt most high school students would agree with my reasoning.

Oh, and there's one more pet peeve I have about the public school system, at least where I went to school: I can take a 7-hour school day, but why the hell does it have to start at six in the f***ing morning? I think 9:00 would be a much better time for starting school. I mean, during the winter we were going to school before the sun comes up!

I agree deeply with this opinion that summer vacation causes intellectual stasis. I've observed it in myself - having had more time to pursue my own interests, I exceed my high-income peers in the sciences and literature but fall behind in mathematics and in my physical fitness upon my return to school. Also, summer becomes extremely boring after the first four to six weeks, and I find myself wishing to return to school, despite the massive number of people there - it's worth it for the intellectual stimulation.
I believe that if vacation time were dispersed evenly between spring, summer and winter vacations, students would return to school more rested and more eager for intellectual stimulation (or the company of their peers, whatever they enjoy about school) than they had been previously during spring/winter vacation. Summer vacation is an archaic remnant of times when children needed to be free of school to tend their family's farms during the summer. I sincerely doubt that a great number of public schoolchildren spend their summer vacations tending farms.

The long summer vacation in America came about because 100 years ago most people lived on family farms and were needed during the summer months.

They could go to school in the winter months when they weren't needed on the farm.

Honestly I don't know how much of a difference it would make. I would of dreaded going back to school regardless and we never really learned much during the last month of school either so there wasn't much to retain.

The problem with having a shorter school day is that kids actually have to have a place to go. For a lot of kids, that place would be a lot worse.

There are way bigger issues with the public school system than scheduling.

I became overwhelmed very easily in school and NEED a long break. But I wonder if feeling overwhelmed as due to bullying. School used to not start until September but now it starts in August and there are some who want it to start in July. Before the bullying got severe, I used to get bored with summer vacation after about a month or so and couldn't wait for it to go back. I got bored on weekends as well. I wonder if they keep the bullying in check in Japan where they only have a three week summer vacation. I only dreaded going back to school after the bullying got severe and after the teachers treated me as if I was a terroist.