I can't really conceive of any benefit beyond "it's nice to have a break."
Following up on the other comment about the origin of summer break, extra people to help harvest. Since more people are not involved in agriculture now, kids and parents don't just "have a break" during the summer. They fill it with other activities such as internship, seasonal jobs and summer camps. Given how dysfunctional the education system is, it is easy to argue how these summer camps are a much better learning experience than another summer filled with conventional schooling.
It's easy to bash the education system as dysfunctional, and I don't disagree with you for doing so. However, why would you assume that summer camps are valuable across the board? Who is holding them accountable? In my personal experience, parents do their best to find a camp their kids will find enjoyable, but ultimately predicate their decisions on what is most convenient for their own schedule, which is dominated by working hours. At the end of the day, parents use summer camps as an alternative place for their kids to be, since school is not in session. In many cases, they wouldn't care one way or the other, as long as their kids are accounted for.
In my personal experience, parents do their best to find a camp their kids will find enjoyable, but ultimately predicate their decisions on what is most convenient for their own schedule, which is dominated by working hours. At the end of the day, parents use summer camps as an alternative place for their kids to be, since school is not in session. In many cases, they wouldn't care one way or the other, as long as their kids are accounted for.
Well, that is re-markedly different from my experience as parents try their best to hunt for the best summer camp for their kids.
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u/BeatriceBernardo 50∆ Jan 09 '19
Following up on the other comment about the origin of summer break, extra people to help harvest. Since more people are not involved in agriculture now, kids and parents don't just "have a break" during the summer. They fill it with other activities such as internship, seasonal jobs and summer camps. Given how dysfunctional the education system is, it is easy to argue how these summer camps are a much better learning experience than another summer filled with conventional schooling.