Inconveniences of learning year round | Teen Ink

Inconveniences of learning year round

February 24, 2011
By Anonymous

How many people would willingly give up their summer vacation and trade it in for books, pencils, and arithmetic. Students would therefore have to learn and go to school during summer. Instead of three lovely months off of school you get three months on and one month off. Even though breaks are longer you would have to learn and go to school around holidays. So I am in firm negation of year round schools because of the irritations it brings.

The organization of year round schools is an easy thing to understand but below the simplicity are problems that can cause inconveniences in most aspects of life. They are arranged into ‘tracks.’ These ‘tracks’ are different schedules, or groups of kids, that go to school at different times. Each track has a certain month off and three months on. The usual year round school has four tracks that all run on different schedules. These different schedules can cause problems in school work, social lives, and families.

The first problem that can cause displeasure is the stress on families with multiple children who are on different tracks. The families would have different children on different schedules. They would have to leave children home alone or hire a babysitter for those who are not in school. Therefore causing lack of attention and parenting issues. The parents would have more stress and since children do different activities, at different times, would have a hard time with where and when life is going on. Problems with family can lead to difficulties in school.

This brings me to one of my next points; troubles learning. It is proven that teachers spend more time reviewing what they already taught than teaching new material. Having two weeks off for winter break makes it hard enough for students to remember what they had recently learned, let alone a month off. The time spent reviewing can both waste time that could be spent learning and advancing the minds of youths or confuse students on material they are currently learning. It would end up needed to be made up so that students can learn everything that has to be learned in one grade.

Changing grades is an important thing that every child makes a fuss over. Year round students go from one month being in 4th grade and the next month being in 5th, to give an example. This makes no time for students to bask in the aging process and shows unimportance in getting closer to graduating. Also students that are in the same grade will start the same grade before others of the same age. Students may tend to feel too worn out not having a long break. They will feel as if school is never-ending and that life will be just as boring. Having a summer break would allow students to alleviate the constant learning and allow free time. One track starts in June another in July the next in August. Students wouldn’t be able to use each other’s’ minds for resources that can help advance their learning because they are all learning different materials. Friends that are the same age would be in different grades and can cause strafes in friendships.

Speaking on grade changes it becomes a hard adjustment for students who go from a year round school to a middle school or high school that isn’t year round and has more on task school time than breaks. They can have enough difficulties adjusting to the change in air let alone dealing with the differences of breaks. The more time spent learning could be hard for students to manage. The projects that are due in a few days rather than a month, the homework that is more pressing, the sudden resources that are now available.

Student’s social lives are crucial at this point in their lives. But with different schedules it’s hard to arrange for students to have friends and see them often if they are on different tracks. They could become socially shy, unaware of the joys and advantages to hanging out with friends. Let alone school clubs or activities, with students on different tracks it would be hard to organize club meetings where everyone can get there. There would not be enough time to practice sports, music, or any other thing and students wouldn’t be able to advance without difficulty.

Proven research has shown that year round schools learn the same amount as students in the nine month school. The tests scores were as high as those in a normal school. Displaying the fact that school is school making it last longer over the year you still learn the same material and are as advanced. So the eliminating of summer doesn’t prove a decrease in forgetting material but the spreading out of forgetting throughout the year. And the reason for relieving the class sizes actually wasn’t accurate because there was still overcrowding.
Year round schools prove to not help but create more problems and worries for students learning. It causes more stress and hatred of school than the relaxing but boring summer vacation. The advantages of the typical nine month school year are better all-around for teachers, parents, and students. So better to keep our fabulous summer vacations than trade it in for the more often breaks from school.

Works Cited
"Year-round Schools Don't Boost Learning, Study Finds." Science Daily: News & Articles in Science, Health, Environment & Technology. Web. 16 Feb. 2011. <http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070811151449.htm>.
"Year Round School Pros and Cons." Education Issues & Topics. Web. 16 Feb. 2011. <http://blog.educationbug.org/2009/08/year-round-school-pros-and-cons.html>.



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