PRO: Summer Reading prepares students for the fall

Every summer the John Carroll School assigns students in ninth to twelfth grades a book to read and complete assignments. This program was designed to prepare students’ minds for the upcoming school year.
While this may annoy students and give them a feeling that school is never-ending, summer reading has its benefits.
Incoming ninth graders have the summer reading as part of their orientation. The entire grade level reads the same book, and on their second day of orientation, they have common activities for discussion and examination. This helps in socialization and in the understanding of what it means to be a JC student.
For other grade levels, summer reading is only annoying if one allows it to be. If one stays on top of it, it truly takes little to no time out of one’s day-to-day summer schedule. It is easy to do from wherever the summer leads a student, whether this is the beach, across the world, or just outside sitting on one’s deck.
This is not only convenient, but it also creates time management skills. By having one outstanding due date for many assignments, it is up to students to determine how to divide up their time. This is a vital life skill and fosters positive personal growth.
With these time management skills comes independence. Students are left to finish assignments with no one reminding them over the summer months. This creates individual discipline and gives students a glance at the real world.
Students can argue that summer is a time to rest and not to have to worry about school, but spending time preparing for the school year helps students to be better students.
Athletes do not quit being athletes over summer break, so why should it be any different for students?
Not only is summer reading manageable and beneficial to personal growth, it also sets students up for success. It helps students with a background and understanding of the assignments they will be completing in the fall. This way, students can learn material at their own pace while still being set up for the upcoming school year.
By keeping students engaged in new material and reading, students are prevented from falling into a slump during summer. They need to keep their brains engaged so that skills are not lost.
It also allows students to smoothly return to school when the year begins. Rather than taking up class time needed when school starts, teachers are immediately able to jump into their lessons.
Also, since students’ brains are engaged and they likely will not forget their skills, teachers do not need to reteach new material.
Summer reading is especially beneficial to AP classes. AP classes are given a set number of days to cover a variety of topics to prepare for the AP exam.
By reading over the summer, students can use those three months to cover material, so less material is jammed in before the final.   — Madelyn Aiosa & Khali Addair

CON: Summer Reading causes unwanted stress before the fall

Every year students look forward to the summer vacation. It’s a time to wind down and relax from all the stress and work from the school year. Many students at John Carroll also participate in athletics along with keeping up with all the work.
Students go to school close to ten months out of the year. In these months of the school year, students are often pushed to strive their best and give all they have got. Then, they have a couple of months to chill out and not have to worry about work.
After all the chaos of the school year, students start to wind down for summer. Then they hear there’s more work over the summer.
These mandatory reading assignments may cause students to not find any interest in reading anymore and lose motivation in completing these assignments. This is students’ time to relax and have fun, go on vacations, and explore new places.
No one wants to be swarmed by summer reading assignments that are so time consuming. Because students still have a lot going on in the summer between vacations, sports, and much more, the other side to worry about is the quality of these assignments. Students often try to rush through these assignments as it’s their time to do what they want to do; students may find ways to cheat and not put their full effort into the work
Towards the end of the summer when all the vacations and the rush of fun are winding down, students often push the summer reading to the very last minute. This can cause an increase in pressure and stress over the student. Because of this, it can also cause burnout before the school year even starts and is not a good setup for the new year.
Another concern is students having access to books and all the materials. Unless the school is providing the materials needed for summer assignments, it shouldn’t be assigned at all. Many parents of students work over the summer, and students might not have access to a quiet place and access to books. There are so many concerns about material accessibility.
Some reading programs consist of these long assignments over the computer. This can cause an increase in screen time. Students should be outside in the pool or having fun with their friends at the beach and amusement parks. Summer also gives them time to get extra hours at their jobs to make some extra money. It’s not good to have to sit inside all day in the summer at the computer because you need to read a book and do an assignment on it.
For summer reading, the students don’t get to pick books for things that interest them. This is a problem during in-season school, too, and is the reason why students may feel disconnected from the rest of the class, and not understanding. Not reading something you like can make it very difficult for you to do the assignment well and stay engaged in it.
Overall summer reading undermines the joy of reading for any student. Summer reading can diminish a child’s interest in reading. Over time reading will start to feel like such a large task for the students to complete and become so dreadful for the students.
In conclusion, summer reading is very unnecessary. Summer reading will only make school more dreadful for students. Something that once seemed like so much fun will seem like so much work, and students will lose motivation to do it.                 —  Brooke Maley