By Nathaniel Sloane
Every year, students go through an intense, long-lasting 180-day school year. These hardworking students are entitled to a break, which is why, for about 10-11 weeks during the summer, school is out. While this break is meant to be largely stress-free, strenuous summer assignments due at the start of the school year loom over the heads of students and cause unnecessary academic pressure.
AP World teacher Dr. Sorensen has an interesting perspective on summer assignments. He said, “The first is that we work hard all year to build up a student’s academic mind, and there’s a lot of research showing how quickly those gains can fade if critical thinking and academic habits stop during the summer. I don’t want students taking one step forward and two steps back simply because they did nothing for two and a half months.”
While Dr. Sorensen sees the value in summer assignments, he also understands the student perspective on summer work. He stated, “At the same time, our students are at a unique point in their lives. Most of them are heading into long, demanding careers that will ask a great deal of them. Having a real summer break is a rare thing when you look at the span of a person’s life, and that’s worth protecting.”
He added to this by saying, “So my philosophy is that summer work shouldn’t be overwhelming, and it shouldn’t be something students dread. It should be just enough to hold onto the gains from the year before and springboard them into the next. “
Dr. Sorensen’s views on this topic might be more neutral than others.
For example, junior Paul Van Haetsdaele said, “I think that summer schoolwork shouldn’t be a thing. Summer is supposed to be relaxing, and a break from school, and summer work just brings me back into the school mindset.”
On the contrary, junior Owen Liu declared, “I really like summer schoolwork, and I think that it is really helpful. Summer schoolwork helps me prepare for the school year and it makes sure I don’t fall behind to start the year.”
Ultimately, I stand in between the two sides of this argument. Should kids be completely distanced from any form of educational activity during the summer? No. But should kids be overwhelmed with summer schoolwork during their only break after a demanding 9+ month school year? No.
There is a happy medium in this argument.
If teachers can find a way to assign learning over the summer that isn’t overly stressful and taxing, and students can find a way to complete those assignments while still enjoying their much-deserved break, then both sides will benefit.
Students won’t be exhausted and mentally drained before the school year even starts, but will be prepared and ready for the school year.
