Is Summer Work Necessary? 

Is Summer Work Necessary?

If you’re like me, the end of the school year brings equal parts excitement and dread. The enthusiasm for sleeping in, beach days, and spending time with friends and family— and the dread for summer homework. Throughout the months of July and August, it’s common for high-achieving students to have a heavy workload for the honors and AP classes ahead. But, is it really necessary for teachers to assign such classwork? 

The summer after my junior year, I found myself in a tough situation. The three AP classes that I had signed up for dictated immense amounts of summer work, and despite my best efforts, I was tied to my desk for the majority of the summer. Of course, I acknowledge I chose to take these classes and accepted the workload. Yet, with inevitable college applications and SATs looming over me, I couldn’t help but feel like the summer work was excessive. Isn’t it logical that the students in the higher level courses would be readying essays and studying for standardized tests all summer? Do teachers not consider the draining effect that hefty summer assignments have on students who already have a full plate? On top of that, students are likely to have summer jobs, internships, and extracurriculars which take time. It can also be argued that these opportunities facilitate learning in a personalized way that can prepare students better for their future than mindlessly taking notes on endless textbook chapters. 

I connected with seniors at Exeter High School via an anonymous survey to get their input on summer work assignments. According to the survey, 100% of respondents indicated to some degree that their time spent on summer assignments would have been more efficiently used at a job, internship, or working on college applications. Also, the survey shows that the average stress level over summer assignments was 7.5/10, with 1 being not stressed and 10 being very stressed. Two thirds of the respondents admitted that the work they completed during the summer was not even with their best effort. This points to the fact that the time spent half-mindedly doing assignments would be better used for things more centered around students’ special interests. 

When asked, “do you think summer work is necessary? Please elaborate”, here is how one student responded: For some classes, I think it is necessary and for others it is just busy work. For example, I think that English classes only give summer reading so they have something to do in the first month of school. On the other hand, if it is an AP class, I think it would make sense to get ahead on the coursework so students are more prepared for the test in May. Another student said: I think some summer work to make sure we remember the basic concepts makes sense, and I get that some AP classes need to start on the material early to finish the course in time for the test. But some classes give way too much work to reasonably finish and have it all be good work, and any due dates throughout the summer are actually crazy. The general consensus is that while summer work can be beneficial for starting the school year off strong and without any cobwebs, some assignments cross the line into excessiveness and can inhibit a student’s ability to pursue more meaningful experiences during the summer months. 

What do you think? Is summer work actually necessary, or should students be free to determine what a productive summer looks like?