The Issues, No.16 - Year Round School

The idea of year round school has been around for some time and has been implemented in some localities across the country with differing results. A Google search of the internet for "year round school" will provide you with all of the information you need on the subject. I believe, that if it were done right, year round school would be beneficial to our kids, their parents, and society as a whole. Kids sitting around for three months in the summer watching TV, playing video games, texting their friends, playing on YouTube, and hanging out at the mall is not beneficial to anyone.

I think a summer program in school could be used to teach kids things that they want to learn and need to learn in order to function in and enjoy the world after they have finished with school; things that are not the traditional academic subjects. Classes could be offered in how to budget, save, and invest thier money; how to balance a check book; how to cook, maintain a car, buy a car, buy a house, build a deck, play a flute, fly a plane; how to practice safe sex, drive a car, make a dress, swim, dance, sing, act; and even how to participate in our political processes.

Summer school could be offered in three one-month sessions and students would be required to attend two of the three so that they would still have a month off for family vacations and a break. Some of the classes would be mandatory but many would be elective and all of the classes would be of subjects not offered in the regular school year which would make it something different and new for the students and maybe even fun as well.

In conclusion, I think that sitting home for three months in the summer, hanging out, which I believe is what most kids do, is a total waste of three months of their lives. I sincerely believe that the three months of summer offer a terrific opportunity for us to teach them how to better deal with and enjoy life after their formal education and that we are foolish to not take advantage of that opportunity.