Traditional summer vacation is an outdated practice that harms students' academic achievement. Schools should adopt year-round calendars with shorter, more frequent breaks instead. Research from Johns Hopkins University demonstrates that students lose an average of two months of math skills during summer vacation, a phenomenon known as "summer slide." Low-income students are particularly affected, losing up to three months of learning because they have fewer educational opportunities during the summer.
Year-round schools address this problem by distributing breaks throughout the year, preventing extended learning loss. A 2021 study published in the Journal of Educational Psychology found that students in year-round schools showed 5-10% higher achievement on standardized tests compared to peers in traditional schools. Dr. Maria Santos, an education researcher at UCLA, notes that "shorter, regular breaks allow students to stay mentally engaged while still providing necessary rest."
Critics claim that year-round schooling disrupts family vacations and summer activities. However, year-round schools still include substantial breaks - they're just spread throughout the year rather than concentrated in summer. Many families find the more frequent breaks actually allow for more travel opportunities and better work-life balance.
Coding should be a required subject in all middle schools. Technology is everywhere these days, and everyone needs to understand how computers work. My older brother learned to code and now he has a great job making lots of money. If you don't know how to code, you'll probably struggle to find work in the future.
Some people say not everyone needs to code because there are plenty of other jobs. But those people are wrong. Computers are taking over everything. I read online that coding jobs are growing fast, which proves we all need to learn it.
Learning to code also makes you smarter. It's basically like learning a superpower. Plus, coding is fun once you get the hang of it. Schools that don't teach coding are failing their students and setting them up for failure in the modern world.