It’s the first day of the school holidays here, and children are looking forward to six whole weeks of freedom. It’s strange how ones perspective of time changes with age. As a child, I remember relishing the start of the long summer holiday, the time ahead seeming endless and full of the promise of fun and adventures. Mostly these adventures consisted of trips to the park, bike rides, a weeks holiday and long afternoons playing on the green.
All too soon the last week of the holidays would arrive and it would be time to buy new school clothes and equipment and the experience was over for another year. But, while it lasted that time was precious, the long unstructured days and informal social contact probably teaching as many lessons as were ever learnt in a classroom. It’s no surprise that as adults we recall those days as permanently sunny, full of friends and laughter. The truth is it often rained and we were often bored but we forget those bits, because overall the good times outweighed the bad.
When we become parents our opinions change. The holidays can be a problem, we worry about child care, entertainment, costs. Many parents draw up itineraries of events, some even become competitive, and spend the time attempting to arrange ever more complex activities. One family go swimming, their neighbours hire a pool, so theirs buy one.
At the beginning of September it is quite common to see Mothers in school playgrounds all over the country bragging about the activities they organised for their kids during the hols. I wonder though if children actually care. Are they any happier than our generation were? Would they enjoy their time off just as much if they went for impromptu picnics, fished for minnows, or simply kicked a ball around with a few friends? Are they missing out in some way because even during their holidays, they are still following a time table, instead of enjoying free time, when there is no plan, and activities and excursions take place because they seem right.
ps: The title is a line from the Alice Cooper song Schools’ Out
Technorati Tags: school_holidays
powered by performancing firefox
Similar Posts:
Kate
Mum, blogger and editor based in the north of England; interests include fog knitting, cat herding and jelly juggling. If you want to get in touch for any reason you can find me on Twitter, LinkedIn or drop me a line via the contact page on my portfolio. Alternatively, you can follow this blog via it's Facebook page, or subscribe to the feed.
Jack Yan
I think kids are missing something that certainly my generation had. In my day I could go off cycling or as you say fishing for the whole day without any worry for my parents. That freedom was great, unknown to us kids at the time it was giving us responsibility. Through no fault of their own but because of the modern world our children miss out on the pleasures of exploration and making their own entertainment.
Oh, those heady summer days. I feel all nostaglic now.
Those long pointless bikerides where the idea was to simply never travel the same road twice.
Camping holidays, hikes, woods and forests, rivers, sunshine, long walks… and the utter boardom on the days you couldn’t find anyone to play with.
But those camps… structured mornings and carefree afternoons.
Those were the days.
My longest standing friendships were formed during that time.
I hope you don’t mind but I’m going to reply to you both in this one comment. Blogger is being a bit dicky and I don’t fancy my chances of posting twice.
Cotswoldgent – yes I know what you mean. The world isn’t the same as it was when we were children, there are so many odd bods and so much traffic. It’s sad though, because they (kids not the odd bods) do miss out.
Lord Matt – oh yes those were the days. Looking back we had so much fun, but took it for granted at the time.
I’m also still friendly with a lot of the people I knew at that age, it’s strange but you do from very close bonds don’t you?
Those days were brilliant. Unfortunately the media would have us believe that there are paedophiles lurking around every bush. I can honestly say, (and in my line of work I have access to them), that there are no more of them now than there used to be. It’s just that we are more aware through the media. Most of them by far prey on children within their familiy circle. It is extremely rare for them to choose unknown children.
Having said that it never hurts to be vigilant and the upside is that maybe parents are spending time getting to know their children.
St Jude – I had wondered about that. You do see a lot more stories in the papers, but it makes sense that is simply that they cover those stories more than they used. I suppose with improvements in technology and so on, it is easier to catch the culprits too which in turn leads to more coverage.
The summer holidays make Glasgow come alive with the sound of kids. From morning through to nightfall.
I have to disagree with Cotswoldgent. I think the kids do get out and make their own entertainment.
Cycling along the river there’s groups of kids with fishing rods and I know many groups head to the outskirts, to Loch Lomond or Campsie glen to camp.
The only problem I see is that the kids tend to leave an abysmal mess of litter behind, unfortunately this is also the fault of parents here too. People just drop wrappers without a second thought. It’s as if they expect someone to clean up after them.
I also think that we live in a society that is gripped by a fear. As if some wierdo lives on every corner. Sure, there are predators out there but perhaps the media projects an un-realistic and potentially dangerous world view by its exploitation of kidnappings, sex offenders etc etc.
Dave – your comment ties in with what St. Jude said – that the media heighten peoples fears of weirdos and perverts, and it makes sense that that would be the case.
We are fortunate to live in a small village, and I do see a lot of kids out and about doing the stuff our generation did at that age, but I also see a lot who are chaperoned everywhere they go. I feel sorry for those kids because they miss out on a lot of fun, and also the chance to learn to be independent and make decisions. I can understand why their parents do this, but at some point they are going to have to let go, they can’t follow them around for ever. Or maybe they will, perhaps we will have a generation who take their Mums to work LOL