Kids Need Summer
Summer break, finally! Now school is over and kids have all summer to be free from grades and homework. That is unless a child attends a year-round school! Children across the country are losing their summer break causing schools to lose money from being open all year. Year round schools have no positive influences on a child’s life and year round school years even increase costs for schools. With summer break kids get needed exercise and develop social skills that are essential to life. Having a year round school year would also increase costs for school districts which results in school staff losing their jobs and some schools even close down if they lose all of their money! Year round school years deny students the opportunity to exercise because they are slaving in a desk all year. Children with a year round school year don’t have this opportunity also because of homework.
The N.E.A (National Education Association) says “41% of American children will become obese by 2015 due to excessive amounts of homework and fattening school lunches. An average school lunch includes a main dish, a side, a dessert, and a drink. All of these dishes add up to approximately 780 calories which is 380 calories more than a kid should be consuming in one meal” children who attend a year-round school eat these lunches every day of the year increasing chances for obesity. Children are also gaining weight from working in a desk the whole time they’re at school and than come home to work at a desk again on homework, with summer break children get needed exercise and with a year-round school you stay in the desk not exercising.
Most schools give each student 2-3 hours of homework a night which restricts the children’s ability to exercise. Most children go home, do some of their homework, eat dinner, than finish their homework, and than go to bed. Not getting time to go outside and exercise. Year round schools deny students the opportunity to develop social and problem solving skills essential to make it through life happily. With a year-round school children are always thinking about school and not hanging out with friends and are not making new ones either.
Human development executive director Marcy Guddemi said”Children are developing at the same rate mentally as they were before but are developing socially slower than they were before, so, why have a year round school year?” Summer break being a time to play and have fun has proven to raise self-esteem levels which reduce chances of depression. Having a higher self esteem also makes children more social and being more social enables children to make more friends. Even schools would benefit from being closed during the summer. The schools actually make money and that helps teachers keep their jobs. Schools across the country have lost 1.5 trillion dollars due to budget cuts.
This has caused 15,000,000 school staff members and teachers to lose their jobs. In Boulder, Colorado, Centennial Middle School’s budget has dropped 21.4% since 2009; this shows the drastic change in our economy and how much it is affecting our schools. Obviously summer break is very important. It proves to help children develop, get time to exercise, and also helps school districts save money and keep their teachers.
If summer break is so important to a child’s life, why take it away from them and make them go to school all year?
