First Day of School

Summer School that is!

Craig and I are very popular these days in the school department. We made the decision that the boys had to attend one semester of Summer School this year. Not a punishment, as they are both honor roll students, but to give them the opportunity to a) get an extra credit without having to give up a much anticipated option in September and b) because we do our children a disservice giving them 9 weeks of holidays.

I have always been a proponent of year round school and I believe that especially in high school/college/university, students should be learning about what it's like to live in the real world. We spend so much time talking to them about the do's and don'ts of life that we don't prepare them for the workforce they will go into (unless that is teaching) in which they will only get two weeks vacation, and then only after having worked for a year to earn it. High school students in our Province (and many others) go to school for 5.5 hours a day. They get approximately 4 months off a year when all the PA days, holidays, breaks and Summer are factored in. How is this setting them up for life? Kids don't need the time off - school is their job and they don't work full time.

So, we told the boys that they each needed to take a one month summer school class and get an A in order to be off in August. If they get an A, they are free for the month to work their jobs, do their chores, and hang out with their friends.

Their friends have asked me not to tell their moms because they don't want to go. What other parents choose to do or not do is up to them. For us we believe we are working towards preparing them for real life, and let face it, high school/college/university doesn't do that.

One friend of mine commented that she thought the kids deserved the break. My reply is simple - when you have worked full time long enough to amass the holidays, you are definitely entitled to them. Until then, the best thing for teenagers is to be busy, engaged and not out cruising, spending their money and making poor choices.

When I go to bed at night, I never lie awake thinking "if only they had 10 hours a day of being unsupervised - that would be great".

So, you may agree, you may disagree, I don't really care. My children contribute to their schools during the 8 months they go, make good marks, and now they go to summer school. It shouldn't be an option.

So unless every high schooler is given a full time job to keep them busy and learning about the work force - which they will all enter at some point, school seems like the best answer.

How can anyone disagree with giving their children every edge, every opportunity, every chance to maybe take something they wouldn't, or fall in love with a class that wasn't in their timetable? We could be changing the way our children see their future. The possibilities are there. We give them every opportunity to play any sport they want, try any activity, but for some reason, the thought of learning, the thought of being in school in summer is horrible. The only real question is what are we teaching our kids if they don't believe that any opportunity is better than no opportunity?