The Importance Of Learning Over Summer Break

"The only ones who don't lose are the upper 10 to 15 percent of the student body. Those tend to be gifted, college-bound, they're natural learners who will learn wherever they are" (Smyth 7). This is a statement from an article written by Julie Carr Smyth about how much knowledge is lost over summer because of the amount of education-free time during the break. Smyth's article also state so that "The National Summer Learning Association cites decades of research that shows students' test scores are higher in the same subjects at the beginning of the summer than at the end" (Smyth 6). If the National Summer Learning Association already has research showing that knowledge is lost over summer break, why do we still have such a long break in between school years? All students would agree that every school year goes on the same as the one before: you start the school year reviewing everything you previously learned, then you spend the rest of the year learning new lessons just for them to slip out of your mind again when you get back to school the next year after summer break. It seems as if the only activities that students remember from their summer breaks are the parties, vacations, and Netflix series they spent their time on. That is not how it should be. Shortening the gap between the summer school months will in turn strengthen student education. It won't allow them to lose as much previous education as a long summer break would. A longer school year will in turn decrease education loss, increase productivity year round in students, and provide the simple necessities of daily life such as food for some unfortunate students.
"Education Secretary Arne Duncan notes that US students often spend 25 or 30 percent less time in schoo...

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...ts, who wouldn't want to lengthen the school year? The students of course, but aren't they more worried about the parties they're going to miss rather than the education that they're going to get? But teachers don't care about the parties their students are going to miss or the series of Netflix that they aren't going to be able to watch; all they care about is giving each and every one of their students the highest education that they can possibly offer, and that is really the one main reason why a longer school year is better. It gives more time for the teachers to find the best ways to possibly teach their students everything and anything that they might need to know for their future lives, and if that's what will come out of a longer school year, then you better believe that it's the best thing to do for students not only in the U.S., but all around the globe.