Mr. President wants to shorten summer vacation

In the midst of a nationwide healthcare reform and an economic depression, President Barack Obama says that he is moving towards extending both daily school hours and the length of the school year itself. This can only mean one thing: shorter summers, and nobody likes shorter summers.

Now, before you start complaining, let’s get the facts straight. It is well known  that America is ranked as having one of the worst educational systems in the world relative to its abundance of resources. Our math and science proficiency levels are also well below the standards of other countries such as China and Japan. Thus, it’s no surprise that Obama is worried that America’s future generation will not be a competitor in the global economy with its current education status. He hopes that extending the school year will both allow students to gain more knowledge and keep kids out of trouble.

Okay, so clearly, we kids aren’t happy with this idea. I’m definitely against it. High school, as it is, is already very tiring. Waking up at six a.m. and getting home until four pm to six pm is definitely exhausting. Another issue is not only the extension of the school day, but of the entire year. Our summers could potentially be cut down to only one month long!

A longer school day means more homework, more projects and less time to work on them. As a result, kids will work later into the night and obtain less sleep. Any scientist will tell you that sleep deprivation counteracts a proper learning environment. This would contradict Obama’s main reason for extending school.

Secondly, everyone’s daily schedules would be thrown off. Sports games would have to start later, and parents would have to rearrange their already-adjusted daily routines.

Lastly is the well known fact that Americans already have longer school days than the majority of countries that are beating us in scores. What does this mean? It means that we shouldn’t be focusing on adding more hours, but on finding a way to better utilize the time we already have.

Thus said, it is definitely impractical to go further and try to extend the school year. Summer is a time for kids to relax and enjoy youth as well as to attend summer programs that range from volunteer organizations to academic marathons. It is also a time for teachers to take a break from the constant grading and lecturing, maybe even a time for them to come up with a better agenda for the next year.
Shorter summers? Longer school days? Mr. President, you crazy.