It’s just wrong
Why do schools start in August now? Today is the first day of the new school year here in Oceanside/Vista, and I don’t get it. What happened to September being Back-To-School month?
When I was a kid, the school year began the Tuesday after Labor Day. Labor Day Weekend was the official End Of Summer, the last hurrah of freedom. While my daughter was school-age, many of the area schools went to a year-round schedule and some tracks would start a new year in mid-July. But the year-round craze seems to have played out, and I think most of the schools around here have reverted to a traditional schedule. Except that now they start in August. Why?
This is often the hottest month of the year. Who can get excited about shopping for a back-to-school wardrobe when it’s too hot for anything but camis and shorts? Where’s the thrill in buying new crayons and lunchboxes (or even binders and Bics) when the weather is screaming “Pool Time!”? And how are you supposed to get your mind off the algebra test tomorrow when TV is still nothing but reruns?
If anyone can explain this anti-tradition madness, please do.
[tags]Back to school, end of summer, tradition[/tags]
August 20th, 2007 at 10:00 am
all i can say is, i’m just glad my school days are over and done with.
August 20th, 2007 at 4:42 pm
I guess I won’t mention the fact that I am so happy that the dumb neighborhood kids had to go back to school already! But yeah, I remember when it was exciting to wear new fall-ish clothes when school started!
August 20th, 2007 at 5:55 pm
Yeah, I don’t even know why I care. It’s not like I have any school-age kids!
August 20th, 2007 at 6:22 pm
My (soon to be!) niece in Switzerland went back to school last monday. That’s why we moved the wedding to the beginning of August instead of the end of August like we’d originally planned…So she’ll be able to make it. Of course, the fact that it coincides with your’s and Brett’s anniversary is a lucky bonus!!!
August 20th, 2007 at 10:51 pm
I’ve got no idea…but I agree with Hilly. I’m glad the yard-apes are required to return to purgatory a bit earlier.
(Then again, I’ve spent most of the summer dealing with script kiddies. Lots of that activity will die down once they’re back in school. *meh*)
August 21st, 2007 at 6:12 am
For me, school has always started two weeks before labor day. Maybe it is an Iowa thing though. I know it is not the same in Wisconsin or Illinois.
August 25th, 2007 at 2:36 pm
You changed the artwork! LOVE the Welcome Back, Kotter lunchbox!
August 25th, 2007 at 10:25 pm
Suze: I keep thinking we can’t get anymore in common, and you keep proving me wrong!
Muse: Hey! How’s the back doing? I haven’t heard “yard-apes” in a looong time!
Kim: I think the schedules back east have always differed from the West Coast. I remember my cousins getting out of school just before Memorial Day, while we still went till mid-June.
Juli: Yeah, that other art was too annoying. It was just something I grabbed online while posting from work. I like the Kotter lunchbox much better. I almost used a Jetsons one, but Kotter being a teacher made this one more appropriate.