Christopher Dixon

“Back in my day…” starts many a sentence from an old-timer seeking to recall simpler days as he/she struggles to keep up with the nuances of life in the 21st century.

Those stories aren’t all bad. We hear stories of life working in the fields, playing in the creek on the long, hot days of summer and life long before internet, cell phones and social media. Take time to listen to someone who goes back far enough, and they remember air conditioning was a novelty and the two or three television stations signed off for the night.

We listen with fondness to the tales of yesteryear, usually realizing that there is no way to go back… nor would we want to.

But not all modern changes are good, and such is the case with the school year starting earlier and earlier over the years.

Earlier this month, Missouri Governor Mike Parson signed a bill which slightly pushes back the earliest school start date for Missouri public school children (which takes effect in 2020). That was a wise decision on his part.

But it’s still a bit ridiculous for the school year to start back up in mid-August.

There is quite a bit of back information that goes along with how our public schools work. Most schools had “summers off” because our nation was primarily a rural and farming nation 150 years ago. Having June through August completely off from school allowed families to take part in farming activities and allowed children to be out of school buildings — which were not air conditioned, of course — during the hottest months of the year.

Fast forward a century and a half and our nation is no longer made up of predominantly farmers, and most all schools have air conditioned facilities. Couple that with the fact that children in poverty often lose academic ground over the summer and don’t have access to the food they need during this time, and it makes a strong case for shorter summers/longer school years.

But… there is always a “but.”

While we don’t want to leave those factors out of the equation, modern families have too much on their plates, with precious little time off together for travel and “downtime.”

With organizations stepping up to fill the time off with food and academic options, a shorter summer feels like it’s just another assault on our family time. And it just seems ridiculous to be talking about “back to school” at the end of July with two months of summer left.

There are many considerations at play (breaks during the school year are also a factor in this, with each state setting requirements as to how many days schools must be in session) when it comes to the length of summer break.

Regardless of all of those factors, I join the old-timers in calling for a longer summer. This “back to school” in mid-August thing is a little bit silly.

Christopher Dixon is chief operating officer of eLectio Publishing (electiopublishing.com) and lives in Springfield with his family.