I know, what kind of sick monster am I for thinking that kids should give up their summers for school work? Well, I guess a pretty sick one, but hear me out. Year-round school is actually not what most people think it is. Yes, it is year-round, but it does not actually increase the amount of school days in a year, which is 180 in most states. It simply stretches the days spent in school over a longer period of time, while keeping breaks from school the same total time, but stretched out. In fact, some states already offer year-round school years for their students. So the program itself already exists here in the US, but it should be more widespread and common.

Exposure. That's what kids get out of a year-round school year, with being in classes for longer periods of time. Many schools that already use this system do so on a 12-1 schedule, with 12 weeks on and then 1 week off of school, as well as 4 weeks off in August. This would mean that students are in school for a longer period of time, and do not necessarily have the same distractions as most school schedules. Granted, this really doesn’t seem proportional to the current model, and you would be correct in thinking that. But studies by some of the schools that run these programs have shown consistent growth of students whose grades suffered during a traditional school schedule. Most of the schools also say that average students who have switched generally do not drop in grade either, while others say that their students have an average 9.5% increase in reading skills and a 13.3% increase in standardized tests, according to the California Department of Education.

Additionally, it would help the job market. When a normal high school’s class of seniors graduates, there is an influx of 18 and 19 year-olds looking for jobs. But if school was year-round, then classes could graduate at different times of the year, which would mean that instead of 500 kids all scrambling for jobs at once, you may only have 100. This means that people would get hired over a longer period of time, and there would be more opportunities to be hired since there wouldn’t be as much competition. This could possibly create problems for employers on employment scheduling, but I think that the gains would far outweigh the small problems.

Year-round school could also be a potential benefit for parents. If their children are in school for longer periods of time, then that means that they don’t necessarily have to work around their school schedule. The kids would have longer breaks, which could mean that families that can afford it can have more room for longer vacations or trips outside of the summer. That being said, I understand that it could be hard for some parents to find caregivers or babysitters for their kids as they are home for extended periods of time while the parents have to be at work. I’m sure that many of them could work something out, however, like having multiple babysitters come during the time period, like sitter A for 2 days, sitter B for the last 2 days, and then sitter C their last day off.

So that's it. Year round school does have it’s benefits. Sure it has some downsides, but many of them seem to be manageable once people can get into the groove of having school year round. And in the long run, I’m sure it would be a beneficial thing for the country's education system. The longer kids are in school, the more they will learn. We may not like it, but that’s how it works (for the most part). And, there are already some school districts that have implemented the system, and things are mostly turning out fine for them.  Besides, what’s the worst that could happen? A few million students all over the country rise up and boycott school because they see it as a form of oppression? Oh, wait….