Whatever Happened to Long, Lazy Summers?

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Every summer I face the same ethical dilemma, should I recommend that my students take college courses, do community service, dive into original research, get a job, launch a business, or should I suggest what I think so many of them desperately need to do: take the summer off. Swim, relax, read, hang out with friends, watch the sunset, and most of all, don't worry. The problem being, of course, that taking the summer off, will close a number of college doors, particularly to the UCs. We read so much about the crisis in teen mental health these days. Here is an obvious solution: have colleges only look at extracurricular activities done during the school year. Give these children some time off.  I am appalled by what is expected of 16 and 17 year-olds. Yet I find myself, year after year, urging my students to do more because each year the bar is raised. Colleges defend this insatiable demand by claiming it's the students' desire to explore the world that drives them. But let's be honest here. The vast majority of students need a break and would take one if it didn't undermine their efforts to get into a selective college. When Stanford added the question, "What would you do with an extra hour a day?" the expectation was that the answers would reflect an indefatigable thirst for knowledge. The answer most often given was: sleep.
COLLEGES - I AM CHALLENGING YOU TO DO BETTER. OUR CHILDREN DESERVE IT.