More school: Obama would curtail summer vacation

More school: Obama would curtail summer vacation

news.yahoo.com

WASHINGTON – Students beware: The summer vacation you just enjoyed could be sharply curtailed if President Barack Obama gets his way.

Obama says American kids spend too little time in school, putting them at a disadvantage with other students around the globe.

"Now, I know longer school days and school years are not wildly popular ideas," the president said earlier this year. "Not with Malia and Sasha, not in my family, and probably not in yours. But the challenges of a new century demand more time in the classroom."

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Wow, I dont know what to think. On one hand everyone says our citizens dont get the education that people in other countries do. They like to look at Japan and say we dont go to school as much as they do. But who wants to be in school all the time, doesnt Japan have one of the most stressful cultures and high suicide rate?

I also found this quote disturbing.
"The president, who has a sixth-grader and a third-grader, wants schools to add time to classes, to stay open late and to let kids in on weekends so they have a safe place to go."

Well now were turning into mommy and daddy to protect the kids. I dont think that is what school should be for.



news.yahoo.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

What might benefit some, would not benefit all.

My children are high achievers already, and by 3 pm are ready to unwind for the day before having to do homework. I can't imagine having them go an extra 2 hours.

If Obama wants to keep schools available as a babysitting/protection agency for kids that need it, fine, but I don't think it should apply to everyone across the board.

Don't forget the millions of teachers who love their summer breaks. They will fight to their last breath to prevent this from happening.

Jeeze, take all the fun out of being a kid. Maybe make the kids with D or lower average do summer school and reward the rest with a fun 3 month vacation. It might be a little incentive to try harder.

reply to post by crw2006


On the one hand, I agree with Obama. (that actually IS one of the signs of the apocalyspe) We need to refocus on education. More school would be a good thing.

On the other hand. . . . who would pay for it? Higher taxes? What other classroom agendas would there be? Would partisan politics be part of this brave new classroom?

I think what they REALLY need to look at is the fact that the asian schools they are trying to be competitive with, do not spend more time per DAY in school, but only 12-20 days more in school... and the methods of teaching are DRASTICALLY different than here.

THAT is why they are ahead. NOt because of how much time they spend there... because of the METHOD of teaching.


And... quite frankly... I do not know a single teacher who would want to add 3 more hours to their day... specially at the rate they get paid NOW...

This idea is just beyond idiocy.

Taking consideration for the few here...
Except for those few golden students, most students just get through school...
So most anything beyond 7th grade is just, "learning to work with your peers"
I believe that any extra education beyond good grammer, basic algebra, history and biology/science.......should be payed for independanlty by the parents!
If it was this way, I tend to think that a much much higher % of student and parents would be more involved with the education process!

Besides I find it repulsive to pay school taxes,"I have no childeren" for the students just "getting by"on my hard earned $$ and the parents counting on it for babysitting services and not using the educational recoures!

Originally posted by Jomina
I think what they REALLY need to look at is the fact that the asian schools they are trying to be competitive with, do not spend more time per DAY in school, but only 12-20 days more in school... and the methods of teaching are DRASTICALLY different than here.

THAT is why they are ahead. NOt because of how much time they spend there... because of the METHOD of teaching.


And... quite frankly... I do not know a single teacher who would want to add 3 more hours to their day... specially at the rate they get paid NOW...

This idea is just beyond idiocy.

And asian parents push their kids harder to be achievers. In my city there are many asian immigrants and they get the best grades in the American schools. Some get punished by parents if they get less than an A.

So, I don't think it is where they go to school, but also family values and expectations for education that can make a big difference.

Originally posted by sad_eyed_lady
Jeeze, take all the fun out of being a kid. Maybe make the kids with D or lower average do summer school and reward the rest with a fun 3 month vacation. It might be a little incentive to try harder.

Summer vacation is a tradition.

Summer camps, swimming pools, building forts, first girlfriends, rites of passage.

I think summer vacation is an important development as school itself.

Originally posted by Jomina

THAT is why they are ahead. NOt because of how much time they spend there... because of the METHOD of teaching.

Well said.

The way to improve the education system is to increase the quality of it. Take any city in America for example. In that city you're going to have a couple schools that are highly regarded in the education system and constantly produce high test scores. Then across the other side of the city you have a school that teaches the same subjects has the same hours but produces lower test scores and higher drop out rate.

Which is going to have more impact on those schools? Increasing hours that students attend or making sure all of those schools are able to provide better methods for learning?

Adding more hours to the school day is not the way to do it. They've already cut out recess, P.E and a vast majority of fine arts classes out of schools. Just from those cuts alone how could they not get more teaching of the core classes like math and English?

With today's technology generation the education system needs to evolve to realize that children today don't learn the same way previous generations did. The schools that have recognized this and changed their ways are the ones at the top of the game.





[edit on 27-9-2009 by zarlaan]

Longer School days would equal more truancy as kids realise they HAVE a right to freedom and not entrapment/enslavement in these conformitory factories.
If Obama wants kids to be safe out of schools during holidays then maybe the idiot should stop releasing paedophiles, rapists and murderers on short sentences. It doesn't take a genius to figure it out.

I don't think it is the time of the education but the quality that needs to be improved. Spending more time in a crappy school with useless educators won't do anything, it would probably make things worse.

Um? Has anyone ever heard of taking " Government out of our schools"? I guess they want to make us more stupid! Ever since Government has taken over the education of our children, our children have suffered the consequences of being mediocre. I'm sick of Government being in every little phase of our lives when we should be up in their business alot more. NO!! I'm not for longer school days, I'm for getting Government out of our schools and the private sector in.

Let me ask this question. " Would any of you hand over your guns to the Government everyday and let them take care of your arms while you do your work? I think not!
But most of us give our children up without question and wonder why our country is the way it is. I say no to more days and yes to less Government in our lives.

This suggestion by Obama is predictible.

There will be mandatory indoctrination classes for all to take so we're going to need some extra time with your kids.

Teachers are going to blow a gasket over this. In my opinion, teaching is the greates part-time job in the U.S. 180 day contracts with a full years pay. Ask these folks to forfeit their 9-10 week summer breaks and the Teachers Union may go as far as endorsing Rush or Beck for that matter.

Concept: Good
Practicality:

reply to post by SonicInfinity


Half of my teachers said that is why they took teaching up. To spend summer with their kids.

Education needs to change. It needs to become more strict. Part of the major problem is that it is too relaxed, doesn't push kids to really succeed.

All my teachers always told me "Oh you're such a smart kid" but never actually put that to the test.

reply to post by Solarskye


You may have the right idea. The govt. should give a huge tax break if you put your kid in private school.

One governor wanted to do this for his state, but the teachers unions fought it to the bitter end.

Teachers unions need to go.

My take on this:

Kids in the U.S. spend more hours in school (1,146 instructional hours per year) than do kids in the Asian countries that persistently outscore the U.S. on math and science tests — Singapore (903), Taiwan (1,050), Japan (1,005) and Hong Kong (1,013). That is despite the fact that Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong have longer school years (190 to 201 days) than does the U.S. (180 days).
___

Link to article

Also, the longer school day and the lessening of the summer vacation concerns me. When will children have time to play, time to be kids? So...from like age six or seven onward up until age 17 or 18, kids will have very, very little time for leisure activities and just being kids, and then they will be forced into a job or college? To me, this sounds like a recipe for high stress and rebellion. It also sounds a bit like child labor. And additionally, the more time at school, the less time with parents...true, some parents aren't there for their kids, but what about the parents who do want to be there?

I don't think this is about increasing our competitive edge with the world. I think it's about more government control.

Parents who can, I would recommend home schooling if this takes place.

One more thing, the Asian countries doing so well on test scores may be due to their diet. A diet based more on grains, vegetables, and fruits, more low-fat, less dairy, less meat, can enhance mental abilities...I've experienced it myself since becoming vegetarian (I'm a math major now in college, but in grammar and high school, when I ate the typical American diet, math was more difficult...)

Originally posted by lucentenigma
Summer vacation is a tradition.

Its more than that, its an industry. Entire local economies will collapse without vacation travel. Entire communities will be abandoned that are summer second home communities.

I think we voted for Cosby and got Steve Urkel instead.

[edit on 27-9-2009 by Chakotay]