There are many controversies over what is the best way to teach children. One recent controversy that has been brought to the public’s attention is whether or not year-round schooling could be beneficial. This is a hot topic; there are many people that are strongly in favor of laws that support this, but there are also many people that are skeptical about changing the system. It is known that other countries besides the United States utilize year-round schooling but would it work in the US? An article titled “Research Spotlight on Year-Round Education” from the National Education Association mentioned some pros and cons. The pros included increased retention rates due to a shorter time away from school, efficient use of school space so buildings would never be left unoccupied, and remediation can occur during the school year. Some of their cons included scheduling conflicts with extracurricular activities, scheduling conflicts if the whole district does not adopt year-round education and a parent has children that go to more than one school, and no research suggests that year-round education is beneficial for students.
Another article titled, “Year-Round Schooling Explained” also weighed the pros and cons of year-round education. They emphasized that going to school all year long with frequent breaks could actually relieve stress for students and teachers and prevent burnouts. They believe that even though students would be going all year long, there would be enough breaks that it would not drain the kids. For their cons they added to the list that tourism could suffer because in the summer months when families usually go on vacations, their children will still be in school so they will be less likely to go and in turn will negatively affect tourism. Also, high schoolers could have difficulty finding jobs because instead of one big break that lasts a couple months, their breaks only last a couple weeks at a time.
The next two articles I found on the same website; they were written by the same person, but each argued a different opinion. The first article, “Top 3 Reasons the US Should Switch to Year-Round Schooling,” claims that year-round schooling will actually decrease obesity among children. They believe that over the summer is when kids gain the most weight because instead of playing outside with friends, many kids are turning to video games for entertainment. Whether or not there is a connection between year-round education and obesity is still unknown because there is no conclusive evidence from research. In the article, “3 Reasons Not to Adopt Year-Round Schooling,” the author argued that year-round school would actually end up costing the tax payers more money. This is because the schools would have to pay more for air conditioning over the summer months than they are currently. After looking at all the information, I do not think year-round schooling is overly beneficial for students and taxpayers. Sort of like the saying “if it’s not broke don’t fix it,” I do not think there is anything wrong with the current system. I do not think young kids in elementary school could handle going year round because when I was little, I always looked forward to summer vacation. Sometimes kids need to just get away for awhile from all the schoolwork, and I do not think a week here and there would be enough time for the kids to de-stress from all the work.
References
http://www.nea.org/tools/17057.htm
https://www.edweek.org/ew/issues/year-round-schooling/index.html
http://www.theedadvocate.org/top-3-reasons-the-us-should-switch-to-year-round-schooling/
http://www.theedadvocate.org/3-reasons-not-to-adopt-year-round-schooling/
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