SOFIA GRACE HAAGENSTAD
Dear Los Alamos Schoolboard,
When you were a kid, you loved summer break, right? We all do. It’s the time of year where you get to take a break from school, spend time with family and friends, go on vacations without worrying about having a test the next day. Why would we need a break? Well, there’s a lot of reasons why.
My name is Gracie. I am in 6th grade and this is my opinion on the extra 25 days of school.
First you might ask, why is summer break so important for kids? Well, there’s quite a few reasons, so let’s get into them. Every person in the world needs a break sometimes, maybe some individuals more than others. Adults don’t get as many breaks as kids do. Why, might you ask? Giving a child a break from learning helps in a few ways, like replenishing attention, improving learning, and boosting creativity. Also, overwhelming kids with so much school can cause many problems like depression, feeling overwhelmed, anxiety and more.
Proof that things like this have happened? In Korea, kids have no break. They have about 260-280 days of school. The amount of time they have school for is very long. Now, why am I telling you this? This is because in Korea the Suicide Rates are very high. From what? The pressure and high expectations of school. Like I said too much school can lead to depression, anxiety, and mental health problems. Yes, this might only be in Korea but the same things could lead to the US.
When you are a kid, you usually aren’t the biggest fan of school. Some kids want to learn, and they want to go to school, but you have those students who might not want to learn, and those are the people who are far behind and are lower than some of the other students. If we are doing this extra 25 days kids are not going to want to do it. If they don’t want to do it then they probably aren’t going to care or get better at it. To them it’s just more school time. While all your other friends are on summer break you're being fed information that is not going to stick because the idea of not wanting to be there. It isn’t that I don’t want to learn, but I have worked extremely hard this year and I feel like you are punishing the students who do not need the extra practice. Please take this into consideration. If you choose to vote on 25 extra days, make it optional for students who are below grade level, need the extra help, or for students who have nothing else to do and would like to come to school.
When you learn something new it might take you a while to learn it. Some people can learn it fast while others don’t. For example, let’s say you're learning something new in math. It could take years to learn, or months. We aren’t going to be able to learn new information in such a short amount of time. Most likely the students aren’t going to move the needle one way or the other.
Childhood, our childhood is a very important time in your life in so many different ways. The way you live your childhood could also affect your future. You don’t want to remember your childhood by staying in a classroom all day during your summer break. Summer is a time where kids of all ages, even adults have a time to branch out, go new places, meet new people and give yourself a break. It is a time where you relax and spend quality time with friends and family. It is so important to have this time to bond.
Lastly, imagine you were in our situation. You would probably be pretty mad right? Getting your summer taken away because people are behind. What if some people aren’t behind and they are in the place they need to be in. You would hate to continue to do school for no reason at all. It wouldn’t make a difference in your learning either. We have faced a pandemic and we had no outside exposure to be with our friends and extended family. Our mental health and much more important at this point in our life. Please think about what you are voting on and take a minute to think back to your childhood.
From the letter I hope the board will take into account us kids, and maybe even some of our reasons will help persuade you. Thank you for taking time out of your day to read my letter and my other fellow classmates letters. We believe in you all and know that you will think about us children when voting. I really appreciate your efforts in making a decision. Thank you so much for your time.
Sincerely,
Gracie
6th grade,Barranca Mesa
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