Students Need Say in Summer Work and Play

It is obvious that summer these days is hardly more than a 10-week period that everyone uses to get their stuff together in time for the next school year.

Back in the day, summer vacation was meant for students to relax, have fun and take a break from non-stop work. But now, students are booking their summer schedules before the school year even ends. Students need to learn how to balance work and play during their one break before the next school year.

As colleges become more exclusive and teens get more academically competitive, more students feel pressured to use their summer as a way to get ahead on class credits or start college applications, limiting their ability to do the things they want to do for fun.

“My mom is making me start my applications and look for scholarships during the summer, so it kind of ruins it,” junior Vanessa Kirchoffer said. “It makes me worried during the summer also.”

For students who take AP classes, time that should be spent by the pool is instead spent on summer homework. Most AP classes require students to read books and textbooks and even write papers before class starts. While it’s true that students should expect a lot of work from their AP classes, teachers should keep in mind that it is vacation and ease up on summer assignments.

“Summer is supposed to be for relaxing,” sophomore Josh Byington said. “People force [themselves] to work during the summer when [they] shouldn’t.”

Furthermore, juggling summer homework, family time and work cuts into teens’ free time and can be difficult to balance.

“Having a summer job isn’t necessarily stressful, but it gets a little annoying when all your friends are going to the beach and you can’t go because you have a 3 to 6 shift,” senior Emily Tran said.

It is definitely unfortunate that many students feel that with their busy schedules, they do not have enough time to do what they want during vacation. However, they should strive for solutions.

Junior Danny Giacomini said his summer usually consists of “two or three one-week vacations, a week of camp, three weeks of relaxing … and a few jobs here and there,” showing that having a balanced summer is achievable.

Students need to be penciling in trips to the beach or taking a day off to go to Great America. It is important for students to remember that summer is supposed to be a vacation, and they need to make sure that by loading themselves with work and other activities they do not defeat summer’s purpose of relaxation and fun.