By Amanda Melvin
Long summer vacations, days on the beach, swimming in the pool, a carefree three months. This is what most kids love. With year-round school, this break would be significantly shorter.
For those reasons, a year-round school year should not be considered. The most common year-round schedules are the 60/20 model and the 45/15 model. (days of work/days of vacation) There are considerable negatives to both models, such as eliminating the chance for summer jobs, not giving a necessary break, costing significantly more, and would be damaging schedules.
Many teens choose to work in the summer. According to Pew Research, nearly half of all teenagers held summer jobs in 2019. These are frequently required to support the teen’s family financially or to pay for their college education. Employers are often unwilling to hire someone for such a short period of time; therefore, work options are limited with the year-round school schedule. Even teachers have summer jobs, and taking that away could lead to teachers seeking higher-paying jobs; therefore, possibly leading to even fewer teachers.
The three-month summer model allows students to totally unwind and de-stress towards the end of the academic year.
“Childhood development experts believe that particularly when it comes to younger students, time off in the summer months is a vital component of healthy development,” according to The Edvocate, an organization devoted to enhancing the quality of education. Students need the time with a break from school to fully recover and be ready for the next year.
If year-round school were to be implemented, the cost would be greatly increased.
“It costs more to run a school year-round,” According to the American College of Education. “Along with paying staff, the school building itself will require more funds for heating and cooling to keep the school running comfortably.”
The pricing disparity has a negative impact on schools, forcing them to invest money in areas where it may be better spent to benefit themselves rather than their students. There are other things the year-round school year would have that would benefit the school rather than their students, one example being schedules.
Year-round schools would be damaging to schedules for students, and others as well. Daycare doesn’t typically have options for the year-round school schedule, and even if some did, it would still cost more for families.
“Child care could also become a concern, particularly if multiple, shorter school vacations are scheduled throughout the year, at times when parents are working,” according to care.com.
It also causes difficulties in scheduling for a family to spend time together.
“The major drawback is the assumed detriment to family structure,” Matthew Lynch, a writer for the Edvocate, says. “American families have become accustomed to the traditional long summer vacation. Parents may find it difficult to schedule vacations and family reunions.”
Family time is extremely important in a child’s development since it aids in the development of strong ties with other family members, improves communication skills, reduces behavioral concerns, and is linked to academic success.
A common argument in favor of year-round schooling is that it increases skill retention and overall academic success. According to ReadWorks Incorporated, Taking too many breaks can cause learning to be disrupted. Teachers can devote only a few weeks to a single topic during the breaks. Students are absent from school for long enough during mini-breaks to forget what they have learned. Regular schedule lessons are not broken up by frequent breaks in school.
Year-round schooling does not boost education while eliminating the advantages of summer vacation. A modification in our schools’ calendar is both unneeded and potentially damaging. Is it really worth it to send your child to school year round?