School’s out! Students flood out of the building, eagerly jumping into the long-awaited embrace of a summer-long break. Just as relief is settling in and relaxation can finally begin, a letter slips into the mailbox. It’s summer homework.
Summer break is the perfect time for students to unwind, spend time with loved ones and enjoy stress-free activities. However, where does summer work fit into their busy schedules?
Homework over the summer does have its benefits. Students can exercise their brains over the break, meaning they would retain more information from the school year that they may have forgotten otherwise.
Junior Drew Vandenbrouck of West Long Branch commented on the effect of three months without school.
“During the summer, you don’t have as much of that academic stress, and then your knowledge slowly fades away,” Vandenbrouck said.
A flexible assignment can be a great way of encouraging students to continue using their brains during the summer.
On the other hand, students may struggle with finding the time to do their summer assignments. Junior Nicholas Thamburaj of Aberdeen Township listed the various activities a student may be occupied with during the summer.
“A lot of people have things they use their summer for besides schoolwork, like summer jobs, vacations and SAT prep,” Thamburaj said.
Summertime allows students to arrange commitments and trips that may not be possible during the school year, quickly filling up their schedules. Many likely have to cram a lengthy assignment into an already-packed calendar.
The sometimes chaotic nature of summer vacation should be taken into consideration when teachers plan their required assignments.
Junior Tod Vitalis of Wall Township believes summer assignments should ideally be short and to the point.
“I don’t think it should take longer than a month of consistent work to get it done,” Vitalis said. “Maybe just reading the book and taking a few notes is fine, but I don’t think you should write a whole essay on it.”
Vandenbrouck added to this idea.
“It should be a month of work, but spread out evenly, so it’s not that much,” he said.
By distributing the work over a month, students would be able to keep their minds equipped to handle the coursework of the following school year without needing to stress about being overloaded with schoolwork.
“An appropriate amount of time doesn’t take up someone’s whole summer and allows them to do other things,” Thamburaj said.
