Hey! Obama! Leave Those Kids Alone!

Summer vacation. It's the roughly two month period that kids all across the country impatiently wait for from the beginning of each new school year. However, if President Obama has his way, those two glorious months could be in jeopardy.

According the the article "More School: Obama Would Curtail Summer Vacation," the President wishes to keep kids in school longer. For more hours per day and more days per year. Additionally, he wants schools nationwide to be kept open late and on the weekends to act as a safe haven for underprivileged kids who have no where else to go.

While it is a reletively well known fact that kids in the U.S. tend to score lower on tests in subjects like math and science than their international counterparts, I feel like Mr. Obama is forgetting what it was like to be a kid. He is forgetting what it was like to relish in the few weeks of freedom that summer provided. Taking away, or severly shortening summer vacation would be taking away a part of childhood.

That being said, I don't believe that Mr. Obama's heart was in the wrong place. It is true that, in order to survive in the global community, kids-and the bevy of less-than-supportive parents- need to step up. To focus more on their education. I did like the President's idea of keeping kids in school for a few extra hours a day to not only keep them from getting into mischeif on the streets, but to extend class time and help support better studying habits . To make education not only a necessity, but a priority.