As a student I find that every summer I am stuck reading a random book that I probably will not like. Then I am forced to write a report that I never actually think about. It always goes fast because I am so concerned with going outside and playing soccer or playing video games than reading a book school threw at me. Teachers think that summer reading is supposed to keep kids brains active over the summer, yet it never works

Across the country, students are forced to read books over the summer. Most of the time they turn out to be painfully boring and mind numbingly bad. Some schools, like Stuyvesant, are lucky because they don’t have to do summer reading, yet at the same time there are school, like mine that force their students to read a certain number of books depending on what classes they took. I know the feeling of having to reads theses books that made the last month of summer very boring. The books force students a like to waste their summers worrying if it will get done in time, when there are a lots of kids that go the whole summer not thinking about it and then starting the assignment a week before school start. Students really need their summers to relax and get away from these books that they have run from on the last day of school because without it when we get back to school we are mindless vegetables with a summer mind set of relaxation.

These books that students are supposed to read are usually some sort of classic that all the teachers like or something related to the class. This makes it much easier for the student to just jump online and go straight to “Sparknotes” rather then actually reading the book. As we know, going online defeats the entire purpose of the assignment. So many students turn into vegetables in front of the TV or run to get to the beach so they can tan and get away from big school, crowed hallways and most of all books! The whole point of summer is to get away from school and books which is why students don’t need these books over the summer to remind them of how much they dislike the school year.

Students may forget some of their work over the summer and reading isn’t a bad thing, so why not make assignments that are actually fun for the student yet at the same time keep them thinking? Rather then being thrown a book that students just want to throw right into the water at the beach asking why I am reading this junk, students should be asking why can’t I read more books that I like for school? Then they might enjoy class.

I believe that all students want summers to relax and have fun without boring old books. Students need the stress free fun that comes with summer. Without it we will just get cranky and mad to be back at school. If we really have to read these books then why can’t the schools let the students pick them? There will obviously be students who try to cheat the teacher and pick easy books. There should be guidelines to stop this from happening. Schools should let students makes their own decisions on their vacations.