When students long for summer vacation,
they tend to recall only fond memories at
the beach or relaxing at home. However, once
they have finally reached the school year’s end,
students realize that they forgot about a whole
other face of summer: boredom. This dreaded
banality is cast upon everyone at some point
during the vacation, whether it be after the
first few weeks or towards the end. Sometimes
these vapid periods evoke such monotony that
many even wish for school to start sooner,
simply to end their suffering. This widespread
phenomenon serves to fuel an interesting
debate. Should our vacation be spent in one
long block, or spread out into several breaks
throughout the year?
Garrett Works (11) explained that
“how it is right now is OK, because if you
take too much time off during the year it’s a
lot harder to get back … If Spring Break and
Winter Break were three weeks I’d … forget
everything I learned.” He added that “If you
were to just shorten summer, people would be
annoyed, but it would probably be more beneficial
for students’ educations.”
Graham Skrtic (11) shared his
thoughts: “Summer is a time that I personally
take part in many activities that could
not be accomplished in a longer ‘short’ break,
and I feel that a long break in the summer allows
students to remove themselves from the
atmosphere of school. There are many activities
that become unavailable to students when
they are not afforded enough time away from
the all-consuming day job that is school, such
as internships, conventions for the passionate among us, academies for the studious, and vacations
for the exhausted.”
The amount of days Falls Church students
have had off are painfully few. As many
are sure to remember, it was a pathetic year
for snow days this season. Students were
mercifully granted one day off for dangerous
weather conditions on Tuesday, March 14.
Two days of two-hour delays followed. Soon
after, the temperature began to rise and hopes
of snow days quickly dissipated. Furthermore, the summer break this year will be shortened by
a week due to a change in next year’s schedule:
school will be starting a week earlier, on August
28.
While the students interviewed intimated
that they preferred a long summer break,
the alternative—several longer breaks throughout
the school year—should be considered. This
schedule would allow for more frequent periods
to rest and refresh while eliminating the summer
doldrums.