2008 Woodie Awards
Earlier vacation needed to solve June gloom
La Voz Editorial Staff
Issue date: 6/19/06 Section: Editorials
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June 30 is too late to start summer vacation. Almost every other school - including schools on the quarter system - is getting out a week if not two or three weeks before us.
This sucks.
Having such a late end of the quarter is not only bad for students but teachers, as well. Because most students' friends are out of school, they are much more likely to skip school and head to the beach. An extra high level of apathy strikes De Anza College after Memorial Day. It feels like summer and no one feels like being at school. Attending graduations is another thing that is thwarted by the late dismissal.
Most high school, middle school and elementary graduations are in the morning when the majority of students are in class. This forces people who have younger siblings or children graduating to make a choice between their loved ones or class. The choice they would make is clear.
Ending the quarter on June 30 makes for a babysitting debacle for any parent, especially a single parent.
While children are getting out of school in late May or early July, their parents are still in school. So if they can afford it, parents are forced to put their children in day camps, which have different pick up and drop times than school. So parents end up having to get to class late or leave early.
Ultimately, class attendance and participation suffer from extending the school year so late into the summer. The solution to all this is just let us out earlier because we're not really in school the last few weeks anyway.
We might be there physically but we stare hopelessly at the window while our brains are tanning at the beach,, road tripping, or at our favorite artist's concert. Basically, professors might as well be talking to inanimate objects. In fact inanimate objects would probably be better students, because they can sit still. They would not itching with anticipation for summer to begin.
Be smart, De Anza. Let us out of here!
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