Summer is now in full swing and facebook is awash in coast to coast photos of fun family vacation trips.  But in the middle of all the postcard smiles, Mickey Mouse ears and the are-we-there-yet selfies, the question is raised -why do kids get the summer off from school? Our friends at relevant prep and mental floss bust the main myth of the purpose for summer break.

It’s commonly believed that school kids started taking summers off in the 19th century so they’d have time to work on the farm. A lovely little tale but us farm kids know that doesn’t make sense since the most intense farm work is spring and fall when crops are planted and harvested.

Before the Civil War kids did not get summers off. But as people moved to urban areas and cities get denser they got hotter. All that brick and concrete create the “urban heat island effect” in summer. So city dwellers would head to the cooler countryside. School attendance wasn’t mandatory back then, and classrooms were being left half-empty each summer.  So, part of the answer is a lack of kids to attend.

At the same time, labor unions were taking hold and the 40-hour work week meant adults were getting more time for themselves. So taking vacations away from home became more popular. Advocates also starting arguing that the brain was like a muscle and needed a break. On top of all that, there was no air conditioning and schools were miserably hot in summer. So, by the beginning of the 20th century, schools started giving kids more time off during the summer. And here we are.  Source: http://mentalfloss.com/article/56901/why-do-students-get-summers

Jonathan Wood/Getty Images
Jonathan Wood/Getty Images
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