I have always been suspicious of summer vacations.
As far as I can see, they serve no purpose but to induce laziness, idleness, and indolence among otherwise meritorious students. What message does it send to the young people of America that their hard work during the school year is inevitably followed by a period of enforced slovenliness? Surely impressionable youngsters get the idea that the former exists only for the latter—that is, the only reason to strive for straight A’s is the luxury of sleeping in all summer long.
Remember the famous scene in the classic movie The Graduate where Dustin Hoffman’s dad rebukes the recent college graduate for lollygagging in the family swimming pool?
“Look, I think it’s a very good thing that a young man, after he’s done some very good work, should have a chance to relax and enjoy himself and lie around and drink beer and so on,” he says. “But…
