When is enough enough? 

Summer is a word universally loved by people under the age of 18, who love the season of warm days filled with sun, water, freedom, and fun. It’s the time when a kid gets to be a kid and have a break from the hardships of school … or is it? Our schools have fallen into the habit of assigning summer homework not only for students who have fallen behind, but also for students who are high achievers. As an incoming freshman and now sophomore at Arroyo Grande High School, I was assigned several tasks to complete over the summer, including reading several works of literature, writing an essay, reading two textbook chapters, and completing at least one hundred related problems. I will have at least three tests on these assignments within the first week of my return.

Though I know my instructors must assign this work to keep up with national standards, one has to wonder how effective these summer assignments really are. In an increasingly competitive and jam-packed academic world, it seems to me we may be losing sight of what the purpose of an education is—to raise kids to become productive citizens. With these assignments and other requirements being forced on students at younger and younger ages, students are being forced to grow up too fast. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to work.