1680 Hours of Parental Supervision this Summer
By
Barrington H. Brennen, June 14, 2022
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During
the months of June, July, and August, the time when
schools are closed, school-age children will have
many hours to play, sleep, learn, and grow. This
period is called the summer vacation. How well
would these hours be used? Most schools close for
about ten weeks. Based on ten weeks of vacation, I
calculated there will be 1680 hours available to
students during the summer vacation.
Parents, how wisely will your children use their
1680 hours this summer? Truthfully the management
of the time should be the responsibility of the
parents and not the children. Often that is not the
case. Here is an overview of how some families
would utilize the 1680 hours: 683 hours for
sleeping, 105 hours for eating, 35 hours for
religious activities, 200 hours for watching
television, 5 hours for reading, 100 hours for
academic work, 280 hours for recreation and fun. If
children have a summer job, they will spend about
300 hours working.
If all families were using the hours as stated above
for each activity, it might not be too bad a summer
vacation. However, those hours do not reflect the
reality in at least 75% of homes during the summer
vacation. Sadly, the 1680 hours for summer
activities will be divided this way: First, the
sleep time will be reduced from 683 to 350 hours.
Unfortunately, during the summer vacation when
students should be having more rest, they are
actually sleeping very little. The television
viewing time increases from 200 hours to at least
650 hours. Online/telephone social media usage
jumps to about 650 hours or more. In many cases,
social media interaction happens simultaneously with
television viewing. If students do not have a summer
job, they become couch potatoes and remain in front
of the television for most of their waking hours.
The waking hours may continue into the early hours
of the morning. The number of hours spent in
reading and studying during the summer decreases
from 100 hours to zero hour.
Far
too many students, and even some parents, feel that
summer vacation is the time to do whatever they want
to do and how long they want to do it. There is
very little structure and accountability.
Intentional planning is needed during summer
vacation time just like it is during the school
year. During summer vacation, children who have a
summer job, or spend time learning new skills each
week, will be better students during the school
year. Yes, they can have more time for fun and
recreation. But there should be a balanced,
structured time for fun, learning, and rest.
Learning must never stop. I am in no way saying
that children cannot have lots of fun during the
summer break. I am saying that along with fun there
can still be learning, and lots of it. I believe
that when learning is fun it is retained longer and
better understood. This is what summer camps are all
about. That is what sport camps such as
basketball, tennis, softball, boxing are all
about–developing the mind and the body. Learning
new fun skills like skiing, swimming, diving,
snorkeling, fishing, sailing, baking, biking,
computer coding, gardening, etc., can all expand the
mind and the muscles. The point is that the parents
are to ensure that learning never ends, and
certainly not for almost the three long summer
months.
For far too many children, summer time results in a
brain drain that leaves children intellectually
crippled. Educator Grace Chen’s article, “Prevent
Brain Drain: Keep Your Kids’ Minds Sharp During
Vacation” states: “Over the course of summer
vacation, students lose between 2 to 2 ˝ months of
math skills from the previous year’s learning. This
loss of computational understanding is experienced
by children regardless of their background or family
income. Some students also experience significant
setbacks in reading ability as well. Students with a
low socioeconomic status can lose up to three months
of reading skills in just 2-3 months of summer
break. These deficits also appear during the shorter
winter and spring vacations, although not in nearly
as robust a fashion.”
Parents are to do their best to keep their child’s
brain active all year round. Children do not have
to be in formal maths classes to keep learning about
maths. This can occur through fun assignments given
by the parents. It might be calculating the amount
of sugar to put in a cake. It might be measuring
the length of lumber to build a dog house.
How can you help your children retain during the
summer vacation more of what they have learned
during the school year?I recommend that your
children watch no more than 200 hours of television
between now and the day school opens for the new
school year. That’s about three hours a day.
Also try to have a television black-out day during
each week or for a full week at least once during
the summer vacation. Make sure your children sleep
at least 560 hours (8 hours a day) and not 280 (4
hours a day). This is not good for mental, physical
and emotional health. Here are more
recommendations for the summer vacation:
-
Ensure your children read at least two hours
for every hour they spend watching
television. Make sure it is an interesting
book of their choosing.
-
Organize local cultural tours of Nassau or
The Bahamas. Plan to spend about 20 to 40
hours during the summer visiting historical
sites, government ministries, art and
cultural museums, for example.
-
Find fun toys, games, activities for
children to do in the outdoors every day.
-
Make sure, as parents, you spend at least
one to two hours each day playing, reading,
or working with your children.
-
If the children are old enough, ensure they
have at least four hours a day of work on a
job or at home.
-
For one hour each week during summer
vacation, let your children review something
they have learned during the school year.
-
Three weeks before school begins, ensure
your children spend about 20 to 30 minutes
every other day reading, planning, and
studying from books for the new school year.
Parents make a big mistake each year by not
providing structure during the summer months. They
drop all guards and standards, thinking it is best
for their children. This is detrimental to
children’s welfare. Although the structure can be
different during the summer months, the principles
are to remain. That is, children should obtain
sufficient rest, nutrition, social and intellectual
stimulation. Too many children learn negative
habits during the summer months that will affect
their lives forever. If only they had parents who
cared and were wise enough to provide the same
standard and structure they did during the school
year! Parents, this information in this article is
relevant for elementary and secondary school
students (ages 5 to 18).
No one is exempted.
Barrington H. Brennen is a marriage and family
therapist. Send your questions or comments to
question@soecouragement.org
or call 242-327-1980 or visit
www.soencouragement.org
