No

by Ruth Woodhouse

Created on: April 01, 2008

No, the school year should not be lengthened. Whilst this article title has most likely been posed in relation to the American school year, I believe the school year works out approximately the same there as it does here in Australia.

We do not have such a long summer break here, but we do have four terms/semesters in most states: with two weeks holidays between first and second; second and third; third and fourth terms. Then we have a longer summer break from just before Christmas. This is approximately six weeks in most states. In Tasmania, where there are only three terms, the summer holidays extend to about eight weeks. We also have a few days off over Easter and other public holidays throughout the year. I have roughly done the sums and, from information my Ohio e-pal has given me, I figure it works out that American and Australian school kids spend about the same amount of time in school over the course of a year.

One difference is that we don't have blizzards here in Australia (except in a few isolated mountain regions) and children don't have to take days off because of the weather conditions. Still, I expect that there would only be a minority of US states that would have to call school off occasionally due to extreme weather in winter. Even in the states where this does happen, I would also expect that the number of days per year which necessitate such action, would not make an enormous difference to the overall education of children.

I have to say that I believe children spend quite enough time in school. To put them under even more pressure than they are already under would be asking for trouble. We live in stressful times where society is so fast-paced and people - including children - carry the burden of excessive expectations. This is undoubtedly contributing significantly to people of all ages developing severe depression - and it's shocking to realize that this epidemic is even affecting our children and youth in these times.

The devastating psychological and social issues we are witnessing in young people - such as eating disorders, alcoholism, drug addiction, self-harm, suicide and violent crimes of the most extreme kind - all point to life in the 21st century being too much for even the youngest members of our society to cope with. Surely the last thing they need is to have even more pressure put on them.

Children and teenagers need even more time for rest, relaxation, recreation and fun than adults do. They need to be given ample time in which to play; to be with their friends; to just hang out and do absolutely nothing but maybe smell the roses. Essentially they need to be allowed to be children. Goodness knows, their childhood is over all too quickly as it is - and none of us gets that precious stage of our lives back again.

Children who miss out on a relatively carefree childhood are likely to become deeply unhappy adults. There can be no doubt that children are growing up too fast these days as it is. Childhood - and the freedom from too much pressure that it ought to be characterized by - should be guarded closely.

I believe there is too much emphasis in these times on becoming smarter. One of the reasons for this is that we compare our education systems with that of certain Asian countries - particularly Japan, who put even more pressure on their students - and their adults too for that matter. Just who said they have it all right? Who said they are a happy race? I remember seeing a current affairs story a few years ago which suggested there is strong evidence that the opposite is true.

Life needs balance for all of us. Life is to be lived. It should not be just constant pressure and excessive demands. How dare we, the adults who are responsible for the current happiness and well-being of our children - as well as their future physical and mental health - keep increasing the pressure on them in all manner of ways!

Our children are quite smart enough and, as long as they have opportunities to learn - and are lovingly nurtured - they will seize them and develop amazingly anyway. With all the technology at their disposal these days they are not only streets, nor even just blocks ahead of what older generations were when we were young anyway. They are whole highways and cities ahead.

Our little boy, at not quite seven, has phenomenal literacy skills and general knowledge. He knew way more before he even started school than his father and I did by the end of primary/elementary school (and my husband was regarded as one of the "egg-heads" in his year group anyway).

Yes, he does still have many lessons (academic and social) to learn at school, even in these early years - but his knowledge of his world, his comprehension, vocabulary and lateral thinking is mind-boggling to us. It's almost scary.

We don't need to be pushing our kids more and more. Given encouragement and opportunities they will go far naturally. Babies are even being born with bigger heads these days because their brains are bigger than they used to be. The human race is becoming more intelligent with each successive generation - and since the astounding development of computer technology and the Internet in recent years, kids have access to a staggering amount of information.

What they really need most of all is to be encouraged to be children for longer. They need unstructured time in which they can get plenty of natural exercise - just running, jumping, skipping and playing. They need to use their imagination and to have time for self-motivated creativity. They need to socialize with other children - and to interact with the significant adults in their lives during recreational activities. They need plenty of good quality time at home with their families. They need time for hobbies and clubs that are, above all, just good fun (though they are learning a lot while they're having fun).

One thing kids do have a lot more of today is extra-curricular activities. These can be good, healthy and worthwhile. But some kids are being burned out by too much activity - with a combination of the pressure at school and too many extra-curricular activities. Too many are hardly ever home and have little unstructured time for themselves.

It really is time that we stopped and reassessed what we're doing to the children. They are just kids and they need to be kids - not some kind of mini robots wired to perform ever more efficiently. Those of us who are 40 and over mostly knew what it was like to relish the sweet freedom of childhood. They were some of the best years of our lives. Just what makes us think kids of today don't want and need the same start in life?

My son can be quite tired and grumpy by the time he gets home from school of an afternoon. By Friday he is even more worn out and certainly needs his weekend break. He does absolutely love school and, unlike most kids, he doesn't even appreciate public holidays because he doesn't like having to miss out on school.

I hope he will always love school so much. However, he doesn't realize that he might not be sparking on all fours to get there if he didn't have adequate breaks from it. By the end of term he can be noticeably more tired. In the cooler months his immune system struggles to cope with all the colds and viruses that abound. So he needs those end-of-term holidays to help him build up his strength and immunity. By the end of the school year, most parents notice that their kids are becoming quite exhausted. They need those long summer holidays so that they can make an enthusiastic fresh start again.

Many kids get a huge amount of homework these days too - and that's another issue. No wonder there are too many kids who come to hate school and all the demands it puts on them. If they come to resent it too much we simply will not get optimum performance from them. They may be present physically at school but they will not be absorbing everything that's being forced upon their minds. As an old saying my mother used to quote says, "You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink". We can't just keep forcing kids to spend more and more hours, weeks and years on their education. So much of life's education for both children and adults should be informal anyway.

Children and teenagers need a lot of sleep and rest too. As another well-known old saying tells us, you can't burn the candle at both ends. Not only do children need a decent amount of time each day to rest and recuperate - but they need plenty of breaks throughout the year. Only then will they have the health and strength, stamina, mental alertness, enthusiasm and drive to achieve the great things we all want for our kids.

We shouldn't be even thinking about making the school year longer. What we should be thinking about is ways to give our kids the best experience of childhood possible. Happy children make high achievers in school and in life beyond their formal education.

Learn more about this author, Ruth Woodhouse.
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