Lonzi 1

Angie Lonzi

Mrs. Cramer

College Comp. Pd. 3

14 April 2022

Should Students Get Rid of Summer Break?

Think of how many students are in school and all the activities students take part in over

summer break. Now imagine it getting taken away and replaced with more schoolwork. This can

be detrimental to students and families. Although year-round schooling has become popular,

schools must continue to give students a summer break because it saves money, improves mental

health, and provides opportunity for amusement.

In addition, by having a summer break, it can save money for parents, students, and

especially for schools. According to Is Summer Break Necessary, schools save money by not

having to provide transportation, meals, supplies, wages for employees, electricity, heating, and

other services. Teachers and administrators use summer break to take classes required for the

upcoming school year. Students also prepare themselves by summer reading that teachers assign,

school shopping, and sometimes summer tutoring. By using summer break to save money,

schools can invest this money into better supplies, resources, and equipment for the following

school year. This can give students a better education. Parents would rather their students have a

great education during the normal school year, than give them one that isn’t going to provide

them with the right resources possible. This is because the school has to use the money to stay

open all year long rather than using it for good use of supplies. Summer also allows students to

work full-time jobs which they were uncapable of doing during the school year. This helps save

money for college.

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Furthermore, summer break can improve students, parents, and teachers' mental health.

Even for adults' summer gives them a chance to relax, recharge, and forget about the

responsibilities of getting their children to school. Children remind adults that it’s important to

play more and not take everyday life so seriously. Summer break can better prepare students for

the future. During summer vacations, get-togethers, family reunions, etc. students have more

interaction time outside of the school building. This builds a sense of confidence for students and

helps organically practice appropriate interactions without the stress of staying home to get

homework done. Www.foridahoteachers.com mentions that “Too much time in school can harm

children’s health” according to doctors. They believe children were too physically and mentally

weak to spend too much of their time sitting in a classroom. Summer break is a cherished

American tradition. Getting rid of it would make students devastated because they would miss

out on a ton of opportunities they used to have fun doing. Students need time away from

education. Teachers need the time off too, to better prepare themselves for their chosen

profession. If schooling continued in the summer, heat would be a problem. School buildings

would be unbearably hot, in a ton of places. Spending time in hot, crowded places can spread

diseases. Let alone, having to wear masks because of Covid-19 won’t help solve this issue. Some

schools can’t afford air conditioning.

Equally important, summer break provides an opportunity for amusement. This gives

time for students to better themselves. If school was opened year-round students would just focus

on passing rather than learning the material. Summer break is supposed to be a time for family

vacations and activities, that’s how it always has been. Students get to do stuff during the

summer that they couldn’t do during the school year. Such as, Swimming, going to amusement

parks, hanging out with friends on weekdays, biking, skydiving, jet skiing, boating, trout fishing,
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picnics, gardening, mowing the lawn, etc. Summer is a time for students to attend a camp or

focus on a skill or passion. These extra days off school contribute to students viewing museums,

participating in enrichment classes, or even getting ahead in school for an early graduation. This

lets students explore who they want to be someday and how they can achieve it.

Counter arguably, some believe extra schooling can improve test scores and better

students' education. Although people still have mixed views. Only a few schools in America do

this, specifically, northwest Washington. Schooling all year-round can also help with

overcrowding, according to Joe Matthews. Several studies have shown that students’ scores on

tests have dropped over the summer because of months of no learning. Therefore, a ton of

teachers end up having to review material learned last year, starting in the first few weeks of the

next school year. This is wasted school time in classrooms that could have been spent learning

something new, mentioned by Haynes, V. Dion. In Australia, students attend school two-hundred

days a year. Other countries having all year-round schedules proves why their test scores are

generally higher than students who go to school in America. Officials also worry that less time in

schools means less material students are capable of learning.

To conclude, summer break is necessary for students, teachers, and families. Year-round

schooling has become popular but it’s just not convenient for American families. Summer break

allows students to save money, improve mental health, and provide opportunities for amusement.

Allowing students to take off school for summer is ultimately more effective for themselves and

their future. Without it, it wouldn’t give students full potential of being who they want to be.

They simply wouldn’t have time to try new activities and meet new people. The whole point of

summer break is to give students the relaxing time they need and to participate in new

opportunities. Therefore, summer break should not be something taken for granted.
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Works Cited

Haynes, V. Dion. "Extending the School Calendar Is a Last Recourse for Low-Performing

Schools." Year-Round Schools, edited by Adriane Ruggiero, Detroit, MI, Greenhaven

Press, 2008. At Issue. Gale in Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ3010473211/OVIC?u=pl1949&sid=bookmark-

OVIC&xid=4f496cd4. Accessed 23 Mar. 2022. Originally published as "Chief Proposes

Year-Round Classes to Aid Ailing Programs" in Washington Post, 2006, p. B4.

"Is Summer Break Necessary?" Foridahoteachers.org,

www.fortheteachers.org/Reading_Resources/Is_Summer_Break_Necessary_1.pdf#:~:text

=during%20the%20school%20year.%20Summer%20break%20is%20time,to%20focus

%20on%20something%20like%20music%20or%20sports. Accessed 6 Apr. 2022.

Matthews, Joe. "Summer Break Is Important to Students and Families." Year-Round Schools,

edited by Adriane Ruggiero, Detroit, MI, Greenhaven Press, 2008. At Issue. Gale in

Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ3010473209/OVIC?

u=pl1949&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=73b1e6f2. Accessed 6 Apr. 2022. Originally

published as "In the Classroom: A Lesson in the Value of Summer Vacation" in Los

Angeles Times, 2001, p. B2.