During winter break, students cannot freely enjoy their time with their families, without the stress of the school year when they return. Students from all different districts feel a similar way. With only 10 and a half days of winter break, students feel stressed about the upcoming school entrance. “Coming off of finals, many students use their winter break as a time to wind down and relax after their stressful week of school. That being said, the students may not be able to relax fully, especially with the New Year’s Day activities that concluded just two days before their return. With an extended break, students could use their extra time to ensure they come back to school ready to start their final semester with a clear mind” (Layla Raber).
Students from Edison Intermediate School (EIS) express that there are many activities they do over the break, with very little time to do them. “We need more time over break to travel and see family and friends and sleep,” explained Lily Shackert and Mikaela Doblas-Martin, eighth grade students from EIS.
This shows that students don’t think there’s enough time for the things they do over winter break. Even teachers agree that the break is not long enough. “School is stressful on students and teachers and parents, it’s good to have time off for family time. I have many family functions to go to and barely have enough time for those,” stated Mr. Markowski music teacher at EIS.
As Mr. Markowski said school is very stressful for students and they need breaks from school. This is shown in an article called “Why Winter Break Should be Longer” which shared, “When a student feels good, it will show in how they learn and produce meaningful work inside their classes. With a fresh mind, students would be able to produce well-thought-out work, instead of continuing to be burnt out from the semester before, submitting work that they are not proud of because they feel pressure to meet their upcoming deadlines. The school year is 280 days long, which comes out to about 77% of the entire year. That is a lot of mental and physical strain on the students and staff. Is having one month off to recuperate and relax too much to ask for?”(southblueprint).
Many kids agree with this and think that it would be beneficial. Seventh grade student Charlie Singer said, “Everyone would be happy with an extended break. Even if you don’t celebrate you still get off school.”
This proves that many people think that having a longer winter break would be beneficial. Students and teachers from not only EIS but also other schools all around the world feel winter break should be longer. It can improve certain bonds and improve experiences that you cannot get with only a week off from school. All in all, a longer winter break is satisfactory for all students.
