I don’t pretend to understand all the problems with our educational systems, but there is one problem that in my humble opinion needs some attention. Our children do not spend enough time in the classroom. They are out for almost three months during the summer, two weeks for Christmas, about a dozen days for other holidays and a week for Spring break. I may be wrong, but this appears to be a little excessive.

Being off most of the summer is an archaic practice dating back to a time when most families lived on farms and needed their children during the summer to work as field hands.

I can remember when I was a student living in the suburbs becoming bored by the middle of July. It was a relief when I became old enough to get a summer job.

Why not divide the summer vacation into two parts – the months of June and December. This would still allow families to take vacation trips plus provide more classroom continuity. Do away with Spring break. It only provides opportunities for older students to get into trouble.

I’ve noticed school buses dropping off younger students in time to eat lunch in their homes. Older students only have about a six hour classroom day. This may seem fine until you look around the world and note how many hours students of other countries spend in the classroom and doing homework.

We need to take a close look at our educational system. We rank about seventeenth among the industrial nations ad appear to be slipping even further. The important question is in the light of all the global competition both economically and militarily, can we continue with the status quo?

 

Ed Henry

Orange