School's Out for the Summer

I'm an educator who hopes we never give up summer in favor of school. Oh, I've read the research, and I hear the state legislature and the No Child Left Behind freaks drone on about how kids don't retain the information they learned in school when they're out for the summer... and how it's really hard for them to get back into the swing of learning when school starts up again in the fall....and how we're not keeping up with other countries. But school in the summer?! It's just not natural.

On the other hand, I stopped by a ball diamond the other day where a bunch of pre-adolescents were playing baseball. It brought back memories of my own childhood until I noticed how many parents were there...most of them yelling at their kids. Yes, I said "at," not "for." Moms hollering to run faster. Dads criticizing every move. It made me sad. Summer should be a time for kids to organize their own games and not be bothered with adults horning in, making the rules and passing judgment. When I was a kid, whoever owned the bat and ball got to make most of the rules. There were no spiffy uniforms, no coaches, no fans, and definitely no parents. How does a kid learn to negotiate and play fair if they're not ever left alone long enough to try it?

I live in a neighborhood where about 100 school age kids reside, but I rarely see any of them. Why aren't they outside playing? Where are the bikes, the skateboards, the jump ropes? Nobody's playing hopscotch or jax or frisbee. Maybe they're all at summer camp or taking music lessons or gone to DisneyWorld with their parents, any one of which would be great. But I fear that many of them are sitting on their butts in the house, watching TV or playing computer games until their parents get home from work.

I used to ground my kids outside the house and they weren't allowed to come in until I said so. Friends could come over, but they had to play outside. There's so much for a kid to do outside in the Copper Country that it seems almost criminal to let them stay in all day. There's water for fishing, swimming, boating, jet skiing, canoeing, kayaking, and water skiing. There are nature trails for hiking and plenty of woods to explore. There's baseball, golf, and tennis. Bike trails galore. Public beaches everywhere. Berries to pick, mountains to climb, gardens to grow. If we had year 'round school, when would kids do all these things? When would they form relationships that aren't school related? When would they fall in love? Oh my gosh, can you imagine going all the way through adolescence without a summer romance?

Ahhhhh.....sweet, sweet summer! I don't care how much the kids forget between June and September or how far ahead of us the Chinese get. Here's to no school in the summer. Here's to parents who let their kids have unstructured play time. And here's to my wish for kids to unplug all their electronics and experience the real joys of summer.