Mandatory Summer Vacation Post: Do we Still Need it?

I’ve always wanted to do something with writing, even back in my younger days when I was a wee writer pretending to be a superhero of my own creation. (It was basically Superman. All young superheroes are all basically Superman. ) But back when I was beautiful, I considered being a journalist, ever so briefly. I eventually decided not to be a journalist mostly because I started doing it around the time that the whole new media thing started up, and the media became the mess it was today. (Note: This isn’t taking a side on the whole “liberal” vs. “conservative” media. It has to do more with the media’s resistance to accept change, and the fact that they have no idea what to do with this new, flash in the pan internet thing that just popped up, apparently.) 

Learning a lot about the media, though, has allowed me to pay attention to certain things that I wouldn’t notice usually. Like usually around May and August there’s a BIG focus on Summer Vacation. There are always these stories around Summer Vacation: “Oh, man, why do we give kids summer vacation? It was only instituted so kids could help with the harvest? Why do we let them run free for so long. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah blah” and basically rolls around to the fact that the stodgy old media writer who’s sitting in his office on a hot day is writing this while someone in a cubical over is probably checking Twitter to find out what’s going to be on the news the next day.

In any event, people tend to ignore the fact that a lot of the time people tend to forget that Summer Vacation is usually around to let kids... I don’t know... be kids. Get a chance to run around. Do something silly. Not sit in a classroom all day. Go outside and enjoy the sun. Or go see one of the many stupid movies that come out. Go to the beach. BE KIDS.

Then, of course, there’s the argument that students always forget more than counterparts around the world, forgetting of course that most of the time educational programs are gutted by idiots who are frightened by anything that challenges them. Summer vacation isn’t really going to hurt them any more than anything else. 

There’s always going to be too much time spent worrying about work. Too much time spent inside. How about we leave Summer Vacation alone for the specific reason that we just let kids go out and be kids. I had a professor tell me constantly that we will never be successful until we are as serious as a child at play.

In fact, even bloggers need to go outside and be a kid sometime. And he steals and writes a contrarian view to a popular topic so he can skip on his Wednesday Post and run outside and play.

You read it. You can’t unread it!