Why schools should run throughout the year
School is essential to a person’s life and should always be taken seriously. School and university determine your future career, and the education you receive from them shapes your future. Unfortunately, most schools aren’t perfect in providing this education, and one flaw, in my opinion, is the two-month gap between each year, also known as “Summer Vacation.”
Summer vacation is the time of year when students get to have a break from school, typically starting in June and running through late August. This two-month gap though, is a very long time, and it is way too long for students to retain most of the information they have learned, especially from the beginning of the year. The students then can’t apply this knowledge elsewhere, where it is most necessary, and because of that students think that school is simply a waste of time. The beginning of each year is just a review from the previous year, which costs time. Time can’t be bought, so making the best of it is essential, especially regarding one’s education. Without summer break, information can be taught to students in a more streamlined manner, and teachers can prepare ahead much more easily. Consistency matters; with consistent breaks, the brain doesn’t lose its study habits either. Summer break is a time when you can just relax and chill, which makes you lose the important habits of studying or doing work on time. This can eventually lead to burnout when given lots of information and lots of work to complete, which is terrible for a student’s well-being.
An alternative to summer breaks would be to have more consistent breaks throughout the year. A break every two to three months ensures that the students don’t get too bored of school too quickly and they don’t lose important knowledge or habits. This is also beneficial to teachers as they can prepare material much more easily as they too have these consistent breaks, which enables them to re-evaluate any lessons planned. This quality that more consistent breaks provide is essential for a student’s future and learning, and it sets them up for a better life. Parents too can evaluate their child during these breaks to see how they are keeping up in school. This allows students to rethink their own decisions, and to turn them around if they need to. Now some may argue that summer break allows students to just relax and chill after a tough year, but the problem is that the year is tough because of summer break. As I have mentioned before, summer breaks make students forget a lot of things they had learned the previous year as well as make them lose their good old habits. Because of this burnouts occur and therefore, a tough school year. It is a never-ending burnout than rest, which is not good for a student’s future especially when it’s only going to get tougher.
Almost everyone in this world knows summer break, and it is something even I look forward to. Although there are some pros to it, I believe the cons outweigh them. I would rather remember the information I had spent so much time learning about than have a two-month break and forget half of it. Information is one of the most valuable things in the universe, and retaining it is equally important. Good habits are also lost through this break like studying or completing work on time. Losing these habits can heavily impact your next school year and even work. Work doesn’t have summer breaks, and I believe schools should adapt to that because that is the future of their students. Consistency is key to success, and an important step in success is education. Regular breaks and consistent semesters are a step in this direction, the right direction. This is why I believe schools should get rid of summer break and instead should opt for a full year of school with regular breaks.
CITATIONS:
“10 Pros & Cons Of Summer Break For Students.” FLEX College Prep, 27 May 2022, https://flexcollegeprep.com/10-pros-cons-of-summer-break-for-students-2/. Accessed 24 December 2024.
“Should School Be Year-Round?” Should School Be Year-Round?, Readworks.org, https://www.wtps.org/cms/lib8/NJ01912980/Centricity/Domain/1794/Should_school_be_year_round.pdf. Accessed 24 December 2024.
Stark, Lisa, and Larisa Epatko. “The pros and cons of schools ditching a long summer break.” PBS, 24 July 2018, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/the-pros-and-cons-of-schools-ditching-a-long-summer-break. Accessed 24 December 2024.
Hopkins, Gary. “Alternative School Calendars: Smart Idea or Senseless Experiment?” Alternative School Calendars: Smart Idea or Senseless Experiment?, Education World, 16 November 2004, https://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin126.shtml. Accessed 24 December 2024.
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