The length of some of the most prominent breaks in the U.S. do not correspond with their valuable purpose. Students are sometimes forced to make the hard decision between school and the religious holidays they identify with.
The so-called winter break, meant to include all winter holidays, really only accounts for Christmas. There are over 18 religious holidays in December— only half of which are included in the average winter break.
Even accounting for Christmas, the break is not overly generous.
In 2023, PV’s winter break will span 12 days. Having less than two weeks of break causes problems for students and families who have to travel over the holidays. “I’m taking a lot of flights [over break] which will take several days. I’ll be missing the two weeks after break so I will have to study and make up my finals since I won’t have that much time while traveling,” senior Vamsi Challa said.
Pleasant Valley has a large population of students originally from other states or countries. Traveling can take several days, which can put 15-30% of their break to waste.
Rarely do people only have one family to visit. Typically, students have to visit at least two sets of relatives to celebrate religious holidays. “Me and my brother visit both my mom and dad for Christmas every year. Going to multiple different Christmases takes a lot of time and we are only able to spend about three or four days with each of my parents since the break doesn’t let us stay much longer if you include travel days and seeing other family,” senior Tate Lyon remarked.
These plans leave families with a tough decision: should they take their kids out of school to celebrate, or miss a crucial time in the school year?
Teachers become irritated when students start missing multiple school days around winter break, and for good reason. Wrapping up the semester while also preparing for final exams is stressful on students and teachers alike. Absence during this time is challenging for everyone, but the circumstance can sometimes entail students missing school.
“We all start to feel so much stress and pressure towards the end of break. Break just doesn’t feel long enough anymore,” Lyon stated. For such a joyful time to be filled with so much stress is extremely inconvenient timing and an unfortunate circumstance for students nationwide.
