DailyDirt: School's Out For Summer...

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Wed, Jun 6th 2012 5:00pm — Michael Ho

The last days of school are coming up in the US (if they're not here already), and kids all over are getting ready for "no more pencils, no more books, no more teachers' dirty looks." Summer school, summer camp or a few weeks of mental atrophy are ahead, so here are just a few links on the subject of not having school all year long.

If the goal of public education is to just produce good students, then it makes sense to keep them in school for 11 months out of the year. But maybe if we want well-rounded young adults, summer camps or summer jobs are better for giving kids a break from school-learning. [url]
The season opener of The Simpsons in 1992 was an episode called "Kamp Krusty" -- an instant classic about the last day of school that showed kids destroying their school with animated violence. It's all fun and games -- until life imitates art. [url]
Decades of research show that kids forget a lot of the stuff they learn in school over the summer, and the losses can be cumulative. Summer school shouldn't be punitive and remedial, but it typically has that stigma. How do communities improve the reputation of summer school? [url]
To discover more interesting education-related content, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]

By the way, StumbleUpon can recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

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Filed Under: columbine, education, kamp krusty, school, summer break, summer camp, the simpsons

9 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 6 Jun 2012 @ 5:56pm

summer school doesn't *have* to be punishment
but summer school *is* punishment for kids that fail their regular classes. we can't allow kids to graduate wihtout learning anything!!!
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Rekrul, 6 Jun 2012 @ 6:55pm

I wonder what the reaction would be if someone proposed eliminating vacations from adult jobs as well...
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silverscarcat (profile), 6 Jun 2012 @ 7:02pm

I don't recall having any problems in school, and we had 3 months of vacation every year.

Granted, I used every study hall that I could and got extra help when I needed it in school, but generally that was near the end of the year, when I was tired, stressed out and needing to get away from school that I had the most problems.

I just never applied myself too much, which is why I never got on the honor role.
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Leigh Beadon (profile), 6 Jun 2012 @ 9:56pm

The last means I would propose for fixing the education system is exposing kids to moreof it...
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- Michael Ho (profile), 6 Jun 2012 @ 11:54pm
  
  Re:
  Well, the other way of looking at the US education system is that US kids get 3 months off and they *still* do pretty well compared to other countries that work their butts off for 11 months out of the year. So maybe we just have to figure out how to make education even more efficient, and we'll only have to put kids through 6 months of school a year (or less!). Basically, the smart kids would spend less time in school, and if other kids wanted to keep up, they could try to take more classes -- or drop out even earlier and start the school of hard knocks (and be young enough to go back to school after realizing how valuable free education really is).
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TimK (profile), 7 Jun 2012 @ 3:41am

All other flaws and arguments aside...

How the hell are we going to pay for it????

Schools don't have enough money now, teachers are always fighting for more money, programs are always getting cut...

"Hey everybody, guess what? We need to raise your property taxes 25% to pay for more schooling. Oh, and good news for those of you with kids in private school....not only do you get to pay 25% more in property tax, you also get to pay 25% more in tuition! But its good for the kids."
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- abc gum, 7 Jun 2012 @ 6:41am
  
  Re:
  To answer your questions, one only needs to look to the past. Seems there has been some changes made to how public education is funded. I'd like to know - where has the money gone?
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shawnhcorey (profile), 7 Jun 2012 @ 7:11am

All and all, it's just another brick in the wall...
Lock students up in an institute for 11 months per year for 10 to 12 years and then expect them to perform well in "regular" society?
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lrobbo (profile), 7 Jun 2012 @ 7:21am

Looking back I believe it was only the break of the summer holidays that kept me sane throughout school.
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