As the school year comes to an end many students are wondering what they are going to for the summer. Students may have nothing planned for the season or it could be jam packed. There are many activities to do during the summer such as taking a road trip, traveling to a foreign country, or just spending time at home or with friends. Summer break has not always been around and some may wonder how it started.

“I plan on just hanging out for the summer. I don’t really have anything planned except maybe a trip to the beach,” said William Hsieh, sophomore.

Jason Hurst, sophomore, is going to London this summer to visit family. Hurst’s mother is from the United Kingdom and his father is from the United States.

“I’m really looking forward to going to London. I feel better there since my accent doesn’t stick out like it does in the states,” said Hurst.

In other countries, such as the United Kingdom, summer break is different. In the U.K. summer break varies but in London it takes place from mid-July to early September. Australia, students do not have long summer breaks. Their summer is during the United States’ winter so it lasts from the middle of December to the middle of January. The Australian is divided into four quarters with breaks in between them much like year-round school in America. However, Japan’s school schedules mimics the United States’ very similarly. Japan has a summer breaks that last about a month and a half and has Spring and Winter breaks that last close to two weeks.

Summer vacation in schools did not start until the early 20th century. Before then, the school year was 240 to 260 days compared to the now 180 day school year. There were only small breaks between quarters. School districts were noticing that more than half of the students were not showing up for their classes, so they cut out the summer quarter so more kids would show up during the school year. After this was put in place the kids who did show up no longer got burnt out as easily.

Summer was picked as the season for time off from school because they did not have air conditioning back then so the schools would have gotten hot and uncomfortable. School officials also feared that diseases would spread more rapidly in hot and sticky environments. At the time it was becoming a trend for the rich to take vacations during the summer and the middle-class, who was comprised of teachers and school workers, began following this trend. Another popular theory is that farmers needed their children at home to help with the farm during the season.

Urban areas had much shorter school years due to farming, but urban districts lengthened them so that kids could get their education. Even though air conditioning is now more common and farming is not a widely spread occupation anymore, school districts still find it necessary to have a summer break because it would be expensive to keep schools open year-round. Although doctors do believe it is now safe to stay in school during the summer unlike it was in the 19th and 20th century because of technological advances. It is also shown that countries with shorter breaks have higher test scores than that of students in the United States.

Summer break is different everywhere and for everyone. Not everyone has the summer break at the same time or are they doing the exact same thing as somebody else but everyone is sure to make it their own.