Of all the seldom questioned, bureaucratically-entrenched, counter-productive, crazy things about our current school system in the United States, I am most bothered by the nine month academic schedule. It doesn't make any sense to expend so much energy trying to convince students to come to school, arrive on time, form study habits, keep schoolwork organized, focus on classwork, complete homework, get along with classmates, participate in school activities, compete for school honors, develop school pride, and take it seriously...and then close the place down for three months and send them all home.
The kids whose families are able to recreate similar structured lifestyles during vacation do so: summer schools, camps, arts and sports programs abound, and even the lax families insist on weekly chores, time spent on hobbies and books, regular mealtimes and at least approximate bedtimes. The parents don't have to be conscious of staying on a schedule; it's part of the privilege of wealth that one can take for granted that institutions reinforce one's values.
But the kids in my neighborhood have no such advantage. The complications that arise in their families from lack of funds are many, and all seem to contribute to frequent change - in work schedules, sleeping arrangements, expectations of all sorts. And so when the school bells start ringing, and time is again divided into set periods that pay no heed to individual needs, my neighbors have to struggle. The rigidity of school is imposed on top of the child's life, in which flexibility is a survival skill.
I hear school staff ask, "How can that mother let her daughter fall behind at school and keep her home to babysit?" or "Doesn't that parent realize that the child needs to practice reading in a quiet place every day to catch up?" and I think, "Fall behind? Catch up? We can't expect a fair race if one group gets year-round training and the other is forced to sit out a quarter of the time." -RC
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