3 Months holidays, ridiculous?

Liveit

So with all my free time from the freedom of school i've been looking, reading and doing a whole variety of things, some (few ) of these have been educational. But anyway i'll get to the point, i've seen it mentioned twice in as many weeks about the length of the summer holidays being ridiculously long. And I think they are right, forget about trying to keep your long vacation for a minute because new legislation aint coming in to change this for the forseeable future so we will all be long gone from school.

So they were originally intended for children to be able to help out in the farm during the busy time, nowadays probably around 80%+ don't live on a farm and farming has changed immensly so this reason is now irrelevant.


But what does everybody think? I know its nice for us young'uns to be young and all but it is a bit ridiclous when you think about it

kippy

Liveit wrote: »

So with all my free time from the freedom of school i've been looking, reading and doing a whole variety of things, some (few ) of these have been educational. But anyway i'll get to the point, i've seen it mentioned twice in as many weeks about the length of the summer holidays being ridiculously long. And I think they are right, forget about trying to keep your long vacation for a minute because new legislation aint coming in to change this for the forseeable future so we will all be long gone from school.

So they were originally intended for children to be able to help out in the farm during the busy time, nowadays probably around 80%+ don't live on a farm and farming has changed immensly so this reason is now irrelevant.


But what does everybody think? I know its nice for us young'uns to be young and all but it is a bit ridiclous when you think about it

Get a feckin job ya bum!
That or a hobbie.

GVNDNN

Are you serious? :pac:

....Go out and enjoy your Summer!

Liveit

I have a job
I have many hobbies.
thank you for your *valuable* response

kippy

Liveit wrote: »

I have a job
I have many hobbies.
thank you for your *valuable* response

You dont work enough hours.


Are you seriously asking for less time out of college/school?
Perhaps you should go to France for the Summer and improve your language.


You've asked a question/raised a topic. If you aren't prepared to take all answers to it you shouldn't have posted.
The fact that you have a job wasnt very obvious from your post.....

TanG411

I did my leaving cert two years ago, and I still had to come in to say that no, the summer break is not too long!.

opinion guy

Liveit wrote: »

I have a job
I have many hobbies.
thank you for your *valuable* response

Yeah....thank you for your *valuable* thread. Get out and enjoy yourself - there is plenty enough time ahead int he next FORTY YEARS for workign with no summer breaks.
Quit yer whining whippersnapper!

GVNDNN

Just curious...

How do you think we should get? :pac:

Liveit

kippy wrote: »

You dont work enough hours.

Im posting this at midnight, do you expect me to be working now after working on the farm all day until 8 o clock?

kippy wrote: »

Are you seriously asking for less time out of college/school?
Perhaps you should go to France for the Summer and improve your language.

Im looking for peoples opinions. I didn't say there would be less holidays just that a 3 month block is ridiculous

kippy wrote: »

You've asked a question/raised a topic. If you aren't prepared to take all answers to it you shouldn't have posted.
The fact that you have a job wasnt very obvious from your post.....

I raised a topic and therefore I would expect that posts would be relevant. It's ok, I won't start a fight over it

amacachi

Wait til college, even though I have repeats I'll have had nearly 4 months off. ^_^

Liveit

opinion guy wrote: »

Yeah....thank you for your *valuable* thread. Get out and enjoy yourself - there is plenty enough time ahead int he next FORTY YEARS for workign with no summer breaks.
Quit yer whining whippersnapper!

Well mabye if we got ahead in the first 18 YEARS we wouldn't have to work for the next 40 YEARS....wait jesus! never knew that when a person is working they can't take a single break during the summer

EuropeanSon

I personally would have preferred a system with shorter school days and shorter holidays, like the German one for example. I think it'd be better for spreading out the workload and reducing stress.

**Timbuk2**

It's not long enough, thanks to the LC taking up nearly all of June (damn whoever put Applied Maths on the 25th!).

I actually can't believe that were in August already - I really need to get working on finishing my summer list!

EuropeanSon wrote: »

I personally would have preferred a system with shorter school days and shorter holidays, like the German one for example. I think it'd be better for spreading out the workload and reducing stress.

I completely agree with that. I hate being home at 5 in the evening, when you have loads of homework to do and a teacher has decided to give you a test the next day. It is a lot to do at once!

kippy

Liveit wrote: »

Well mabye if we got ahead in the first 18 YEARS we wouldn't have to work for the next 40 YEARS....wait jesus! never knew that when a person is working they can't take a single break during the summer

Get ahead in what?

Liveit

Liveit wrote: »

but it is a bit ridiclous when you think about it

Your wrong, very wrong, everything you just said is wrong. Did my leaving in 07 but I still had to comment on this. WRONG!

kippy

Liveit wrote: »

Im posting this at midnight, do you expect me to be working now after working on the farm all day until 8 o clock?


Im looking for peoples opinions. I didn't say there would be less holidays just that a 3 month block is ridiculous


I raised a topic and therefore I would expect that posts would be relevant. It's ok, I won't start a fight over it

You never once mentioned you had a job in your OP.

Having a job in your formative years is as big a part to your education as school/college.
I worked (my own "small" business") the summer after second year, and in the same put for the next three summers. I learnt more in the pub/behind the bar than I ever did in school in how to deal with all types of people and scenarios than I ever did in any college/school.
Even the brief foray into self employment helped a lot.
We're exceptionally lucky nowadays that we can do that and indeed that we dont have to feck off to scotland/england/us at 12 or 13 to send money home for the rest of the family.

jumpguy

If you asked me this last summer, when I was unemployed, made absolutely no plans for summer, and was bored to tears for a huge chunk of the summer, I would've agreed with you wholeheartedly.

But this summer I luckily found a job, made a decent load of plans before summer began, and made sure to have something to do so I won't have to rely on my friends all the time, and have enjoyed the summer, learned a lot (not academic stuff, more practical stuff and dealing with all kinds of people and the public in general), and it has been very worthwhile. The 3 months are great, more time to make money. I'm not dreading going back in September or anything, I'm just happy I've one month of summer left.

So get out there man, be proactive, if your friends don't organise anything to do, you organise it, if you never ask you'll never receive! There's nothing wrong with the 3 months if you learn to make good use of them, it's up to you to get out of the house and make something of yourself!

Liveit

shaaane wrote: »

Your wrong, very wrong, everything you just said is wrong. Did my leaving in 07 but I still had to comment on this. WRONG!

Okaayyyy

kippy wrote: »

You never once mentioned you had a job in your OP.

Having a job in your formative years is as big a part to your education as school/college.
I worked (my own "small" business") the summer after second year, and in the same put for the next three summers. I learnt more in the pub/behind the bar than I ever did in school in how to deal with all types of people and scenarios than I ever did in any college/school.
Even the brief foray into self employment helped a lot.
We're exceptionally lucky nowadays that we can do that and indeed that we dont have to feck off to scotland/england/us at 12 or 13 to send money home for the rest of the family.

Yep i'd agree, i've learned loads more outside school than in it without a doubt. But thats the problem it should be the opposite, we are not learning things that are relevant to today! The government want us to get jobs and/or start businesses, but yet after 5 years in secondary school including 3 years of business i didn't know about tax, grants where to go for help from school at all. /rant
But anyway, there is no real reasonable reason for the holidays to be that long

jumpguy wrote: »

If you asked me this last summer, when I was unemployed, made absolutely no plans for summer, and was bored to tears for a huge chunk of the summer, I would've agreed with you wholeheartedly.

But this summer I luckily found a job, made a decent load of plans before summer began, and made sure to have something to do so I won't have to rely on my friends all the time, and have enjoyed the summer, learned a lot, and it has been very worthwhile. The 3 months are great, more time to make money. I'm not dreading going back in September or anything, I'm just happy I've one month of summer left.

So get out there man, be proactive, if your friends don't organise anything to do, you organise it, if you never ask you'll never receive! There's nothing wrong with the 3 months if you learn to make good use of them, it's up to you to get out of the house and make something of yourself!

haha ok ok, you seem to think i do nothing at all. i go out everyweek( being 18!! ), soccer everyweek, mabye football and go to friends house aswell, organising trip to festival now etc etc...

jumpguy

Liveit wrote: »

haha ok ok, you seem to think i do nothing at all. i go out everyweek( being 18!! ), soccer everyweek, mabye football and go to friends house aswell, organising trip to festival now etc etc...

Haha, no, I'm not trying to make you out to be lazy or anything like that, but if you have so much to do and are enjoying the summer, then why do you feel it should be shortened?

That said, I am more in favour of the German system also. Shorter schooldays at the cost of shorter summer holidays would be much better I think. I hate in Winter that you go to school with the sun coming up, and come home when it's setting. It's also very intense and unhealthy, especially if you've a lot of study to do. Like, coming home, relaxing until 5 maybe, and then studying until 10, and doing it all again? There's very little free time in the day, especially in Leaving Cert.

HxGH

I just hate the feeling of PRESSURE PRESSURE PRESSURE (just finished 5th year now going into 6th) then 3 months of pure loafness.

kippy

Liveit wrote: »

Yep i'd agree, i've learned loads more outside school than in it without a doubt. But thats the problem it should be the opposite, we are not learning things that are relevant to today! The government want us to get jobs and/or start businesses, but yet after 5 years in secondary school including 3 years of business i didn't know about tax, grants where to go for help from school at all. /rant
But anyway, there is no real reasonable reason for the holidays to be that long

It should be the opposite for it NEVER is, no matter what country you are in or who you are. The VAST majority of learning is done ON the job, no matter what that job is. School/College cannot teach you everything for every job, just a very broad and small part of it.
You have a point of course, a lot of what is taugh at secondary and third level is very irrelevent and indeed could be changed to make it more relevant in todays world, however you still wouldn't be well up.

I think a good 3 day session on how to make the best use of the internet and other resources is all many people would need to be able to adapt and find out all that extra information like the information you are saying you should be taught. All that information is out there - it changed regularily so the internet is the best source for it. Thats my tuppence anyway.

The reason the holidays are that long is to give you a break from formal learning. You should really make the most of them. Whether it be working for some extra cash (dont do that ALL summer either, you will be working long enough) or travelling a bit or spending time at your hobbies......do something.

Orlaladuck

I think it should be shorter tbh - I'm agreeing with the OP here completely. I do loads over summer but there's still so many days I just went 'oh i wish i was back at school and Doing Something'. We have some of the longest summer holidays in the world as far as I know, way more than most of europe.
As far as getting out and do more - like what? There's no jobs going (and no I haven't just been lazy and saying that, there isn't. The only people I know who got jobs this summer were given to them by connection, not actually handing out cvs and getting one.)
You can only meet up with your friends so much, go to the cinema or go out and then comes in the issue of money and then we're back to the fact there's no jobs so noone has money!
Also I always hated the fact you forget everything over summer and going back to school was made even worse by that. The LC this year was a pain in the way it went on so long but i'm almost happy it did because it killed a month of nothing to do.

Patriciamc93

Liveit wrote: »

So with all my free time from the freedom of school i've been looking, reading and doing a whole variety of things, some (few ) of these have been educational. But anyway i'll get to the point, i've seen it mentioned twice in as many weeks about the length of the summer holidays being ridiculously long. And I think they are right, forget about trying to keep your long vacation for a minute because new legislation aint coming in to change this for the forseeable future so we will all be long gone from school.

So they were originally intended for children to be able to help out in the farm during the busy time, nowadays probably around 80%+ don't live on a farm and farming has changed immensly so this reason is now irrelevant.


But what does everybody think? I know its nice for us young'uns to be young and all but it is a bit ridiclous when you think about it

Going into 6th year this year and last year i would have said they were to long but this year i had a job (luckly) ,more work experiencethan a job really, but i didnt realise till yesterday how little time i have to revise and Relax!
Working 9-5 5days a week!

But I would agree that they can be long but then again if you in 3rd/6th year then there is only really two months!

gaeilgegrinds1

Could you read some books that would help you next year in English perhaps, not on the course even but ones that might be beneficial?

DancingQueen:)

Personally, I like the long holidays. After the Leaving it felt really weird to sit around, do nothing and not study and I think I really needed a break after all of that work. I'm making the most of the time off now, there's so many things I want to do before it's over and I plan to get them all done. Can't believe how fast this summer is going and before we know it it'll be over.

I can see where people are coming from saying it's a tad long and if I had to choose between long days of school with a long summer or short days of school with a shorter summer I'd choose the latter. By the time I got home from school I was in no mood to study or do homework because I was so wrecked.

Nothing we can do about it now but to enjoy the time we have off : )

ayumi

its really not 3 months bec we have junior and leaving certs finishing late in june,but dont think abt these pple bec you have others like 1,2,3 and 4 yrs who usually finish in may which means they have 3 months of holiday while primary school finish at the end of june,having 2 months of holiday.

also look at other countries in the eu they have shorter holidays unlike ireland which is considered one of the countries that has longer holidays

Liveit

Well I aint talking about whats nice or nicer here, talking about which is more benificial and is the best use of time.
3 months is kinda stupid, when you go back after the summer you can't even write well! Maths, especially honours is forgotten and then september is a waste of time trying to settle in and revise everything again.
I'm not saying there should be more hours or less hours, just that learning is best in short bursts when you are your best, not with it all crammed and then a massive break after it, its like shooting yourself in the foot before a marathon! :L :L

Chuchoter

For me, who is just out of TY, has a job, friends that are ****heads and therefore doesn't have much to do: WHEN DOES 5TH YEAR START? I MISS MY BRAIN!!!

I would much prefer to have 8 weeks and then spread the other 4 throughout the year with more midterms and stuff, just still end in May and start in August, because June is the best month. Or end at 2 o'clock or something (how amazing would that be, wasn't the senior infants timetable amazing!)

ride-the-spiral

Completely disagree, I love the three months. Unfortunately I didn't get a job this summer, but 3 months gives me ample enough time to go on holidays abroad or down to Kerry to see the relatives, play any games I want to or read any books I want to, finish the last bit of the Applied Maths course, and most of all I could spend time writing songs for my band, improving my guitar playing, recording for my own leisure. And of course I get to see my friends alot more whom I never really see during school.

Perhaps I would prefer the German system, but I think that we have enough hours in school.

Ruski

Practise a new skill. In my free time I'm trying to learn to juggle. It's difficult but rewarding and hella fun.

Riddickcule

I'm agreeing with you here OP.

Its too long, especially when you don't have a job. And for those of you who are saying get a job, its not that easy ffs.

Most sports clubs are closed during the summer aswell, which is a bummer. So yes, trim it down to 2 months, would be easier for us to get back in the habit of routine, and I'm literally dying of boredom this summer!

QueenOfLeon

The only time you have that amount of free time is when you're a student and when you're retired. The biggest chunk of your life is taken up working, let us have our holidays while we're young before we're out in the big bad working world!

Lamph

There are plenty of good things to do to enjoy urself that don't require money. Jean Calvin has a lot to answer for! His 'work ethic' is so bred into 21st century society that we even equate 'work' with self esteem issues.

Many of Humanity's greatest achievements were borne out of Leisure time...

In short:- my position = Long Holidays FTW!!!

Liveit

Lamph wrote: »

There are plenty of good things to do to enjoy urself that don't require money. Jean Calvin has a lot to answer for! His 'work ethic' is so bred into 21st century society that we even equate 'work' with self esteem issues.

Many of Humanity's greatest achievements were borne out of Leisure time...

In short:- my position = Long Holidays FTW!!!

course you would! your a teacher haha

Lamph

Liveit wrote: »

course you would! your a teacher haha

True, true!!!
But, everyone should have it this good!
That's my point...

WHY do many people believe
1. Work = moral & important
2. Leisure = lazy & frivolous

Even the most poverty stricken parts of Irish society are better off today than the middle classes were in the 1940s.
How many deaths due to starvation are there in 21st century Ireland?
And yet how many people are suffering depression?
We're all rich enough now that we shud be able to enjoy the fruits of our collective labour more.

The solution:- Long holidays for all! (-I think I need to be Taoiseach)

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

Lamph wrote: »

.

The solution:- Long holidays for all! (-I think I need to be Taoiseach)

Hear hear! If I ever vote it would definitely be for you!! regardless whether you run or not...

kippy

Lamph wrote: »

True, true!!!
But, everyone should have it this good!
That's my point...

WHY do many people believe
1. Work = moral & important
2. Leisure = lazy & frivolous

Even the most poverty stricken parts of Irish society are better off today than the middle classes were in the 1940s.
How many deaths due to starvation are there in 21st century Ireland?
And yet how many people are suffering depression?
We're all rich enough now that we shud be able to enjoy the fruits of our collective labour more.

The solution:- Long holidays for all! (-I think I need to be Taoiseach)

Not entirely true in fairness.
You are in a career where you are lucky enough to have significent time off and to get significently well paid in that time off, and still have a job to go back to.
We can't all be teachers sadly, as much as we like. Although I do agree with your concepts!

revz

I grew up in the UK 1st level education and was in school from 9a.m til 3:40p.m every day of the week with a 15 minute break in the morning, 1h15 min break at lunch and another 15 minute break near the end of the day.
We only got 6 weeks summer holiday as well.
I found it quite intense, when I moved over here for secondary school and found I was only in til 3:20p.m, with a half day on Wednesdays, and 3 months summer holidays instead, felt so laid back compared to what i was used to!
Although I much prefer the UK education system in general, After having half as long a summer holiday in the first years of my education to the 3 months i got in secondary school I'd go with no, 3 months isn't too long.
Although, the practically 5 month summer holiday I'm currently in this year is a bit too long in my opinion

Killer_banana

I think in some respects the holidays are a bit too long (not if you did the LC or JC, I feel like I have no time left at all) and it can get boring but if you make a concious effort to do something as often as possible and make your summer as good as it can be then it doesn't seem too long at all. I used to get so bored during summer holidays, expecting so much and then always let down. Last year though me and my friends all made a concious effort to get out of the house and meet up almost every day and it was one of the best summers that I've had. We didn't really do anything productive, a lot of did just consist of sitting around in town but I'd rather waste time with friends in town then alone at home. It did get boring after a while but that just led to us being more inventive and doing things like camping and having parties. I know what with the economy the way it is that money's an issue for almost everyone, myself included but I think if you're in good company then you really can have fun with the bare minimum of cash. That said I'd love a job. =P

Anyway to get back to the topic at hand, the holidays are what you make of them. I do enjoy the three months and I find the time taken up by the exams made a massive difference to the summer, I really feel like I didn't have enough time this year. That said, I do think if they shortened the summer holidays and gave more time off during the year it would be good also. I felt so overworked this year and really felt a day off here and there really could have helped. The stress and pressure and workload of leaving cert are too much for quite a lot of people in my opinion.