“Should Summer Break be Changed or Banished?”
Do you ever get stressed over work from school or your job? Well, that is why breaks and vacations are so important. Stress is pressure or tension applied to a material object. When people have stress or are stressed, they do not need to worry about it, stress is a normal physical response to events that make you feel threatened or upset your balance in some way. Stress is your body’s way of protecting you. When working properly, it helps you stay focussed on what you're doing, keeps your energy flowing, and helps you be more aware of what is going on. Being stressed isn’t always a long lasting situation, it can easily be demolished by taking frequent breaks in between activities, events, assignments, and other stressful moments. Another way to relieve stress, is to have one or two days in the week that are dedicated to your relaxation. Getting stressed from school is extremely common. Children especially get stressed because their system can not handle too many things at once because they are still developing humans. Your health will deteriorate over time if we don't take a break from work, research concludes. Many people need the time and space away from what they experience every day in order to recognize harmful or self-destructive patterns in their life. Many parents, teachers, and adults complain that summer vacation for schools is such an amazing idea because, there is much knowledge loss throughout the break, however scientists have proven that to live a happy, satisfying, and successful life, everyone needs to give their mind a break from stress at school and work thereby proving that summer break is necessary.
Since breaks are so good for our health many wonder what the p...
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As I wearily sat in my seat, writing an essay on the importance of electricity in the modern world, I caught myself glancing repeatedly at the clock that was so carefully perched above the teacher’s desk. “Ten minutes, only ten more minutes left until school is over and I get to go home!” I told myself. In most schools, the average school day is about eight hours long. Eight hours of continuously sitting in a chair taking notes during lectures, doing classwork, projects, etc. During these eight hours of school, students deserve a short, outdoor break in which they can isolate themselves from the stress of working all day and just relax. Studies have shown that people who take short breaks throughout the day to do light, outdoor breaks are more productive than those who do not. A short, outdoor break will benefit students due to the fact that students will have time to relax; students will be able to focus more, concentrate, and be more productive; and teachers will have more time to prepare for the next class coming.
As school comes to a closing, children start to get excited. They get to play outside, sleep in, and also not have to worry about tedious school work. But for some, summer vacation isn’t such a good thing. In Anna Quindlen's essay “School’s Out for Summer,” she explains how summer can be a struggle for some families. When school is in session, kids get lunch and if they come to school early, breakfast too. When school ends, families that can’t afford to feed their kids, have to find different way to get food. Quindlen does a great job persuading the readers as to why summer break isn’t such a good thing. In her essay she uses statistics, provides solutions people are trying to do, and she also uses pathos in her essay.
Another significant reason is summer vacation needs to be longer. The primary reason for this is children need time to wind down and relax before they have to go back to school. For instance, during the summer children relax and prepare for school, if they...
In continuation, “A third of all travelers say they take workout clothes with them on vacation, but 27 percent of that group admit to never using their gear,” (Bratskeir, 2012). It is classic American culture to want to begin getting healthy before vacation; however most people actually gain weight during vacations. In fact, “In spite of concerns about weight gain, 81 percent of survey respondents say they rarely or never feel guilty about indulging on vacation,” (Bratskeir, 2012). I am not excused from this phenomenon. Usually, during Thanksgiving and Christmas vacation I tend to gain weight. The apparent lack of consciousness when it comes to meals during vacation and holidays causes weight gain. This in turn results in a less proactive health conscious society.
Stress comes from many areas of life especially as an adult student incorporating school at a time in life when family and work are paramount. “Adults just returning to school have substantially higher anxiety about school in general and writing in particular than younger students.”3 Stress, best described by its "synonyms: strain, pressure, (nervous) tension, worry, anxiety, trouble, difficultly"1 has a medical history "According to the American Psychological Association, the majority of office visits to the doctor involve stress-related complaints, and stress is linked to the six leading causes of death: heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents, cirrhosis of the liver, and suicide."2 If managed, stress can be a way to inform me; learning how to recognize my level of stress capacity is important. The Holmes-Rahe Life Stress Inventory 5 http://www.stress.org/holmes-rahe-stress-inventory/ is a list of stressful events that contribute to illness. My personal score on this life stress inventory is 236; I fall in the category of about a fifty percent chance of a major health breakdown in the next...
How to Deal With StressMany students go to school full time, and hold a part time job to earn money for school. Most students have about four classes, and each of the teacher’s of these classes gives an average of about an hour of homework each night; that averages out to four hours per night of homework, plus a part time job. School causes a lot of students stress because there are so many things to do, and so little time to do it. Stress is a normal part of everyone’s life; and is not a disease. It is not necessarily good or bad; however, reactions to stress can be harmful. Lack of time puts the stress on many students, and causes students to often procrastinate because they are constantly trying to meet deadlines and they don’t have the time to work on their assignments. Many students feel their grades are important; they need plenty of time to work on their work so they can do good. I can relate to them because if I get a low grade I get disgusted because I put a lot of time and effort in doing that assignment. But I think that a lot of the stress from school is caused, not only by the teachers, but also from the students to do well. Students put too much stress on themselves. A student just has to learn to manage their time well and just do as good as possible. Stress management involves the effort of that student to make emotional and physical changes.
Most schools which operate year round have adopted the balanced or 45/15 calendar, which switches between nine weeks of school and three week breaks. Other schools use the similarly structured 60/20 or 90/30 calendars which simply lengthen both the learning periods and vacations(Chittom 2). As simple as each plan seems, none preserves the mental health of students. “It only takes about 3 weeks for stress to start creating more lasting problem such as depression and decreased motivation in teenagers,” notes Dr. Sofia Jalilie, a pediatrician in the Bay Area, during an interview. Because of rigorous academic expectations, along with pressure for grades, choosing colleges and a future career, the high school environment can be considered stressful. As shown by three popular systems, year round calendars give students a resting opportunity only, at minimum, after six weeks, which, from Dr. Jalilie's words, is enough time for the students’ brains to be damaged. This effect on students reveals a disadvantage of the year round system because in high schools, mental health and student stress are already large concerns. Meanwhile, supporters of year round calendars claim that they aid students by preventing summer learning loss, the popular theory that students forget most of the information learned in the prior school year during summer break(Von Drehle). Those who believe in the term link no summer to better academic performance. However, in a comparison of test scores throughout North Carolina, a school with diversity in its school calendars, "achievement scores were no greater among students from year-round schools as students from traditional schools"(Chittom 4). Standardized tests are considered one of the best ways to compare students. The year round schools' failure to be superior shows summer learning loss to be inaccurate and demonstrates that making students attend
Summer should be a time to relax after hard work. "Students should deserve a break after their hard work...
Excessive stress in high school students is a concerning outcome that results from an excess of work from school. Sixteen year old student Bretta McCall, who has had her fair share of homework, says, “Academic stress has been a part of my life ever since I can remember. This year I spend twelve hours a day on schoolwork. I’m home right now because I was feeling so sick from stress I could not stay at school.” (MindShift) Because McCall is a high school student herself, she knows first-hand what it is like to deal with overly excessive amounts of work and stress. McCall deals with twelve or more hours spent working on schoolwork, which is more than any full-time job expects. The purpose of high school is to prepare teenagers for the dedication required to maintain a full or part-time job. However, like McCall, many students are forced to work more hours than that of an actual job. The students are overworked and overstressed, which leaves them with health issues that make them feel sick. Mary Alvord is a clinical psychologist in Maryland and public educator coordinator for the American Psychological Association. As a professional on the subject, she says, “A little stress ...
Many schools argue that a four day school week will give students a less stressful school week. However, a four day school week with longer school days could lead to students being more stressed about after school events. Studies show that an estimated 56% of students participate in sports and over 60% percent participate in afterschool activities. Many of these students enjoy doing their activities whether it’s as a hobby or just for fun. If the school days are longer, kids would struggle to find the strength to do what they once enjoyed. Following a long, bustful day of school, students feel burnt out with a lack of energy. Students simply can’t find the energy to push through the day making a four day school week nearly
Should school be year round? Well, I say yes because our young people will get done with High School faster. And if school was year round, students will not have a chance to get in a lot of trouble and they will not be able to join a gang or have time to hang on a block because they will not have a long summer break. Somebody needs to bring this problem to the school board to see if they will make the change to save many students’ lives by keeping them off the streets and keeping them in school all year long. If the children were in school longer, they will most likely turn out better, but it’s up to the people of communities to push kids through school. I believe parents need to stand up for their kids’ rights to help them have a better future by helping to make school last all year.
Everyone deals with stress at some point in his or her life. Most people deal with it daily. As defined in the book called Principles and Labs for Fitness and Wellness, stress is, “The mental, emotional, and physiological response of the body to any situation that is new, threatening, frightening, or exciting” (Hoeger & Hoeger, 2012). This stress is caused by a stressor, which is also known as “a stress-causing event” (Hoeger & Hoeger, 2012). Stressors can take all different forms, from moving to a new town, having a baby, or even writing a paper (Boyd, Wood, & Wood, 2011). One major stressor in life can be going to college. If not coped with properly, these stressors can leave a person with too much stress that could end up harming them mentally and physically, such as developing an illness (Boyd, Wood, & Wood, 2011). There are several ways to cope with stress. Some healthy ways to cope with stress would be practicing emotion-focused coping, building time-management techniques, and practicing meditation.
In conclusion, workers should balancing theirs relax time and work time unless employee cannot avoid stress. This will help us to reduce the chance to get stressed and forget in 21st century’s problem. Stress in the workplace is caused by work and workload. Employees are harmed emotionally and physically by workplace stress. There are two factors of stress in the workplace which are internal and external. When you are relaxing at home, just forget the problems at work. This is the only time you have to relax and being peaceful. Lastly, stress always brings negative attitude and affects your health, so relax as long as you can.
Why, though, are breaks important from an educational standpoint? One reason is that they lightens students' stress loads. College is stressful enough with breaks; without them, students have no way to recuperate from the stress of classes. During Montana Tech's fall semester, there are over two months of straight classes that contain no breaks at all. During the spring semester, there are two more large gaps between breaks, one of which is also over two months long. Although weekends do help, these are often used for studying and homework and do little to ease the students' stress. Many students begin to dislike their classes because of the stress they cause, and as a result, some put less effort into their studying. Breaks allow students some time off from their classes to relax so that they can come back refreshed.
Stress comes in many shapes and forms, it comes with the job of being human. My sources of stress come from the major parts of my life; academic pressure, social settings, and time management. As a high school student, high school in general is very stressful, but not only am I high school student I am also a college student. Double the responsibility means double the stress.