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Vacations necessary for

students’ mental health
 Gaby Breiter (https://thedailytexan.com/staff_name/gaby-breiter/)

Leah Kashar (https://thedailytexan.com/staff_name/leah-

kashar/)
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While the United States can boast being advanced in

many ways, it fails to require basic rights for its citizens, Tweets by thedailytexan (https://twitter.com/thedailytexan?
ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
an example being proper mental health care. For
students, taking exceptional care to manage stress and
anxiety levels is critical.
OUR LATEST ISSUE
(https://thedailytexan.com/catego
Students need more than the two stress-free breaks
mag/?list?list)
during the year they get during summer and winter break.
Students need breaks and vacations without the worry of (https://thedailytexan.com/2021/06/22/dt-6-22-2021/)

homework or school work on a regular basis to maintain

mental health and keep grades up.

The United States’ culture values work much more than it

does breaks, which are seen as unproductive. Other
countries boast siestas, two-hour long lunches and 40,
yes 40, days of paid vacation
(https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-
2730947/Americans-paid-vacation-time-world-countries-
enjoy-FORTY-days-year.html). In comparison, the U.S.
does not legally mandate any paid vacation days at all.
Some companies, especially those that boast valuing
employee health, give paid vacation days. Many smaller
companies (https://www.themuse.com/advice/10-
awesome-companies-that-give-you-unlimited-vacation),
most of which are known to have a positive employee
culture, even offer unlimited paid vacation time.

Fast Company tried offering

(https://www.fastcompany.com/3052926/lessons-
learned/we-offered-unlimited-vacation-for-one-year-heres-
what-we-learned) unlimited paid vacation time for a year
and found that people did not increase the number of
days they took off despite the ability to do so. Rather, they
found that their employees trusted the company more
because they saw that the company viewed them
holistically rather than simply as workers. They saw the
company as more compassionate towards their
personhood.

Despite the
necessity of
vacations,
studies have
shown that
Americans
The Daily Texan Audio (https://soundcloud.com/thedailytexan)…
often do not
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(http://ttp://fortune.com/2015/07/28/americans-vacation-
use/) use their time off. By contrast, 39 percent of
executives think that their employees will do better work if
they take more vacation days, 72 percent of senior
managers of companies do not believe that offering more
unpaid time off would result in people taking an excessive
number of vacation days, and, as Fast Company has
shown, this is true.

Not using vacation days is detrimental to one’s health, as

 is not giving enough vacation to begin with. Studies have
found that people who take vacations are likely to have
(https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/fulfillment-any-
age/201006/the-importance-vacations-our-physical-and-
mental-health) lower stress levels. Furthermore, chronic
stress decreases the body’s ability to prevent infections,
avoid injury and avoid anxiety and depression. The
benefits of vacations also extend to how people relate to
their families and extend to their friendships and
relationships.

While students are given breaks, they are often ineffective

because an excessive amount of work is assigned to be
completed over break. Furthermore, many students
pursue internships. Studies have found that substance
abuse is likely to increase
(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jamison-monroe-
jr/substance-abuse-holidays_b_4318556.html) over
school breaks due to continuing stress and lack of
structure.

Just like adults, who need vacation time, and young

children, who get homework-free breaks, college students
need time off. UT should institute policies that makes
spring break a more effective stress relieving experience.
This would show students that, like companies who offer
paid vacation time, students are valued holistically and
not just as tuition-paying robots.

Kashar is an English freshman from Scarsdale. Follow

her on Twitter @LeahKashar.

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