Posted on 08/14/2019 8:37:00 AM PDT by Salvation
Not so long ago the middle of August was still a lazy time to enjoy the last few days of summer. It used to be that Labor Day marked the unofficial end of summer—not so much any more in more places for more and more people.
The erosion of summer is driven mainly by the start of school. I have watched with sadness as the school year seems to begin earlier and earlier and earlier. In the Washington, D.C. area, parents are young people are preparing for that first day of school – and some schools have already started. College classes start even earlier, early August in some cases; and new students who need an “orientation” generally arrive on campus even before the general student population.
What’s the big rush? Why are some people in such a big hurry to get back to the grind? Families have so little time to spend time together as it is! I hope that the concerns I express today will be seen as having spiritual components and not just as the complaints of an old curmudgeon.
The purpose of rest, both the Sabbath rest and vacation, is to enjoy the fruit of our labors. We should work to live; many today live to work. What is the point of having a livelihood if we never get the time to enjoy life? God commanded the Sabbath for many reasons, but among them was justice. He set forth a particular day of the week (Saturday) as well as other times (feasts) when work was forbidden so that all could rest. Without the collective agreement and commandment (under pain of sin), the rich get time off but the poor must still work to facilitate the leisure of the rich. God set forth a system that sought to prevent that injustice. All, including slaves and even beasts of burden, were to refrain from all but the most necessary work.
In our culture, Sunday has been the day of rest. Most who have better paying jobs get that day off. Before 1970, even the poor typically had Sundays off because most retail establishments were closed. Today, for our convenience, lower-paid store workers and restaurant staff must work.
It is the same with holidays and holy days. It used to be that days like Christmas, Good Friday, and Thanksgiving were days off for just about everyone. Non-essential operations were generally closed.
Today almost nothing — no day, no time — is sacred. Market demand and the need to get ahead of the competition drive this. Work, work, work; compete and strive to win. It is usually the poorest among us, however, who pay the greatest price for this.
Families also suffer; time together has steadily eroded over the years. The tradition of eating evening and weekend meals is all but gone. Sunday and holiday gatherings seem to be shorter and more perfunctory—if they occur at all. Summer itself is now on the chopping block. Churches are affected because the window in which we have to conduct summer festivals and Vacation Bible school is more limited.
I have been given numerous explanations as to why schools are champing at the bit to begin the year.
School officials (in both secular and Catholic schools) tell me that many parents are delighted that their children are back in school earlier, thus freeing them to do other things rather than minding the children. But what does that tell you about the vision of family life today? Shouldn’t families want extended time to vacation together and to engage in other local activities, Church offerings, and so forth? Shouldn’t parents enjoy spending time with their children? Shouldn’t they want to use the extra time in the summer to form them? Do parents have children merely to send them off to school, happy to be rid of them for a few hours? I hope not. I know that we all get a little tired, but I find it alarming that parents would be as eager for school to start as school officials insist is the case.
I am told that teachers require more days for professional development, thus forcing schools to open earlier in the year and/or close later in order to meet the required minimum number of days of student instruction. But professional days and ongoing certification have always been necessary. My mother was a teacher for over twenty years and teachers had professional days and took certification courses (mainly in the summer) back then. Teachers already have two and a half months away from classes. That’s a lot more vacation than most of the rest of us have. Is there a reason that teachers could not have most of June and July off and then return at the beginning of August for these sorts of things? If schools opened after Labor Day that would still give them more than a month for these activities.
Further I would argue that the impact of such a system is not a good one. It sets up a “death by a thousand cuts” throughout the school year as half-days, teacher in-service days, and professional days seem to eat into most weeks of the school year. In some school systems nearly every Friday is a half day for one reason or another. Working parents must juggle schedules all year long, not just in the summer when vacations are already common. Schools even collect a lot extra money running “aftercare” programs on those half-days of classes. Parents are not only deprived of time with their children, but they are pressured financially as well.
The school system is supposed to serve children, parents, and families, but it seems instead that the school systems have started ruling our lives and dictating our schedules. Even in Catholic and other private schools, parents who are already struggling just to afford the tuition must now also pay for additional childcare on those days when school is not in session or closes early.
My final concern is that school schedules carving away more and more of the summer from family time means that the formation of children shifts from the families to the schools. Is that really what we want? I would hope that parents would want to play the most significant role in forming their children. Parents should ask themselves if they want to raise their children or increasingly hand that task over to strangers. Sadly, as we all can see, many schools have become less and less places of teaching basic academic skills and more and more places of indoctrination into values that are often inimical to Catholic and biblical teachings. Although there are exceptions, the infiltration of secular and immoral ideologies into the curriculum has made major inroads in public schools.
I recommend we attack this problem by starting simply. Can we at least have the month of August back? How about an agreement not begin school until the Tuesday after Labor Day? It’s just a little thing, but the steady erosion of rest, family time, Church time, and “downtime” has taken a toll on our society in many ways. Here’s to summer … all of it!
Monsignor Pope Ping!
Their are three known pope’s in the church. He’s the best.
Michigan schools, unless they get a waiver, do not start until after Labor Day. For the most part it is too stinking hot to start earlier as most of the schools do not have classroom air conditioning.
Is is so sad the schools start back mid August.
Common sense!
Here in Minnesota, things are almost pretty much the same regarding the start of school.
Most public schools start slightly before or after Labor Day. Most colleges and universities are about the same.
Up here, most people regarding the Minnesota State Fair and Labor Day to be the end of summer. After how brutal last winder was, I’m not looking forward to colder weather any time soon.
Bump
Here, the days have to be made up for snow and inclement weather.
And the big one: teacher sick outs.
As much as I love Father Pope’s little homilies, I was always delighted to send my little boys back to school.
There were just so many times I could take hearing, “mom, (insert kid) fell out of a (tree, roof, homemade bike ramp) and he’s (bleeding, his arm looks funny, he can’t walk).
Yes, they survived their childhood. I have white hair.
The Monsignor gets it.
The main purpose of public school is free day care for couples who have sold themselves into indentured slavery. Summer break really messes that up.
ping
Just one of many ways the schools are out of control.
“The erosion of summer is driven mainly by the start of school.”
Not if you don’t have any kids! I feel sorry for the people with kids who feel sorry for the people who don’t.
Schools in my community started last week. The high today is supposed to be 107, tomorrow 109 and Friday “down” to 107 again. The kids will be released at the warmest hour and never mind how much the schools have to spend on air conditioning. Kids should be playing in a pool or water park, or spending time in the high mountains nearby. When I attended public school from the late fifties to 1970, I never once had a school year start before Labor Day or end later than Memorial Day. I feel sorry for kids who don’t even have enough time to get bored.
Today is back to school day for most of California’s public schools in N. California.
The week after Memorial Day, most grocery stores and other businesses had back to school sales.
As noted in yesterday’s posting, many of our schools have “free” stuff all summer at our schools, mainly for the children of illegals with free breakfast, snacks, lunches, more snacks and sometimes an early dinner.
Of course the play grounds are supervised by paid college students.
Our kids while growing like to go on vacations in August.
Then, the boys and I took off a week in August for camping and supposedly coastal deer hunting. My wife hated camping and stayed at home without the men folk.
The migrant kids filter in about Sept 1 as soon as the crops are in near Salinas.
That makes the teachers glorified baby sitters through August. I know, I was one for 16 years.
I think school should be off between end of Memorial Day and end of Labor Day. Let there be optional short duration mini courses offered at summer school for those who wish to attend and a small fee included. Summer should be time for interesting fun and variety for kids or for gainful employment if so chosen.
I start back next week, and my students the week after. My only objection is that being on a semester system, which has been the norm here in NC for a couple of decades, is that my students would do better on their state-mandated finals if the semester ended before Christmas instead of after. This would be accomplished by starting up about a week earlier.
You get it.
Another Reason to Home School?
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