Well, it’s back to school for our boys today. Years ago, I don’t recall how many, the summer break in Fukuoka lasted from July 20th to August 31st. Forty days in total. Today, it is only 35 days long. Not only have summer breaks become shorter, but kids today have school on Saturdays every now and again.
Students often ask me about summer in the US.
Although summer break there is much longer than in Japan, they tend to go back to school sooner. My niece’s children in Georgia, for instance, return in mid August.
In the United States, summer break can be about two to three months long, with students finishing the school year in late May or early June. The new school year starts in mid to late August or early September. About 4 percent of public schools in the U.S. have a different calendar, where they have shorter breaks throughout the year and a shorter summer break.
When I was a kid, Memorial Day (last Monday of May) signaled the start of summer break which then ended after Labor Day (first Monday of September). I could be wrong about this or maybe I am just confusing California and Oregon's academic calendars.
What I do know is that those long, carefree summers are a thing of the past.
The way schools plan their year comes from changes made in the 1800s to make sure schools across cities and countryside areas were the same. Before that, schools were open for a part of the winter and a part of the summer. But as schools combined into bigger groups and people in charge of schools organized things, they thought it would be good to have the same schedule for everyone. This was linked to how taxes were set, laws about going to school, and the idea that school was very important for kids.
When schools all started following the same schedule, leaders looked at different things to decide when breaks should happen. They looked at how many students came to school and how hard it was to keep the buildings cool. Rich families would leave hot cities in the summer and go to cooler places, so not many kids would come to school. As trains became cheaper, more middle-class families did the same thing, keeping their kids home in the hottest months or going on vacation.
I personally spent the entire summer break in the mountains two hours from Los Angeles.
Leaders also wanted breaks so students and teachers could rest. Many educators in the 1800s and early 1900s believed that learning a lot in hot weather was bad for health and could make kids tired. They thought younger kids could get hurt from too much learning when it was hot. So, the long summer break was a way for kids and teachers to rest. Teachers would use this time to learn and grow too.
One more thing, people often believe that summer break was needed because children helped their families with farming, but that's not true. Most crops were planted in the spring and harvested in the fall.
Incidentally, only 11% of kids in the US walk to school. The vast majority either take the school bus or are driving. I would say over 90% of kids here walk. The rest, who attend private schools far from home, take public transportation.