June 21st is the day Westfield students and staff anticipate for the whole year. The last day of school before summer break. School causes some students to feel intense stress about their grades and the lack of time they have to get their work done. Summer break gives students an opportunity to lay back, relax, go on vacation, and focus on themselves. Many people agree that summer break is a necessary time for students to settle down from the hectic school year they just experienced. Seventh grader Grace Brodo explained her thoughts on summer break: “The summer is definitely necessary for kids because school is very stressful at times.”
Summer break gives students the opportunity to take a step back from their responsibilities and travel the world. Over the three months students are on summer break many students travel to different countries and continents. This not only gives them a time to relax, but it also teaches them about different cultures and countries. People can learn about different religions, different foods, and ways that other people live their life. This learning happens when they don’t have the pressure of remembering everything because they think it will ruin their grades if they don’t. Students and staff enjoy these vacations and spend time hanging out with family members. Sixth and seventh grade French teacher Kate Young explained one of her family vacations. “In 2018 my entire family went to Italy, the youngest child was 6 and the oldest was the grandpa and he was 78.”
Another controversial topic is the length of summer break. Many people think that the current summer break length is perfect and should not be changed. However many other people argue that the length of summer break is impractical and was created for kids who had to help their parents harvest crops over the summer. Currently 46 out of 50 states in the United States have at least one school that practices year-round schooling. Year-round schooling has students and staff in school for 45 days and then have three weeks off of school. This program is to help students not experience the “brain drain” that students usually go through over the summer.
However, year-round school takes away from a student’s long summer break. The long summer break gives students a while to relax and reflect on the year they just went through. If students are only given a three week break at a time, they will not have nearly enough time to prepare for the next time they will be in school. Students would also not be able to participate in summer camps and summer activities that they are able to do with the traditional summer. Many people go away for camp for up to seven weeks at a time. They would not be able to go to camp during their three week summer break they would have with year round schooling. Sixth grader Alexia Yaaub told us about her camp experience. “I go to sleepaway camp for the whole summer, and I like seeing my friends.”
Moving on, many people argue that the summer break should be longer. Even though the summer break is already almost two and a half months, lots of students argue that because of the stressful school year students need more time to be themselves and take a step back from all of the drama and schoolwork. Sofia Ceraso shared her thoughts, “Our break should be longer because kids need more time to be free.”
