Education is second

My son is a HS freshman.  This past weekend and this week with finals, he will be doing no sports training so he can study for finals.  He does not play a winter sport, so he is not missing games.  But he is missing strength and conditioning training and batting.  Why?  Education comes first.  He puts in the effort this week and earns the time off to focus on baseball the next two weeks.  I guess it is all in how you look at it.

Most parents complain when teachers assign school work over the Christmas or Easter holidays, especially when parents plan to travel.  It is considered a break for a reason....no schoolwork.  

Teachers don't want to do work or grade papers over the break either

I don't even remember my college student having any school work last Christmas.  The only school thing he did was try to rearrange classes for the spring semester!

My guy is a 2017 also and I was thinking the same thing!  

I take it this is a high school student?  So if finals are over and the semester has ended, what homework would there be to have?  I don't see what the problem is here.  My high school daughter has her last final this Thursday and still has to go to school the Friday for the last day of Christmas break.

Has the new semester started already?  Has his break already started?  I guess I am lost because I don't see an issue here with your school.

My youngest kid goes to a school that is notorious for the ammount of summer homework teachers give out.  Doing over 100 hours before sophomore year was one factor that prompted my eldest to transfer to a neighboring school. But even this school has no winter vacation homework. 

I don't understand the OP at all.

No schoolwork over Christmas break is normal.  It's a vacation, after all.

And on vacations, we often play.  Including sports.

BTW, this goes on in college ball, too. 

I feel like you're going out of your way to take something totally unremarkable and make a negative out of it.

Or, was the point that you would like him to be off from sports, too?  Sometimes I've heard people say, they wish their son could play basketball etc. and yet still get to take family trips over the break.  (The sons, however, are often grateful to have a ready excuse for NOT going!)

+1

I was also thinking this as well.

My school's semester actually doesn't end until middle of January but nobody gives any homework over the break because it won't be done when get back except for small percentage.  Plus as others have said I'm not going to do any work over the break so why should kids?

If you don't want your kid to do anything with sports over the break then don't let them play sports.  It's part of the deal of being on the team - give up going away for the break to be part of the team.  If going on vacation is more important then don't go out of the team or don't be surprised when they are no longer on the team.  Is it fair?  Maybe or maybe not but that's the way it's set up.  In the spring nobody goes on spring break because they will be playing and practicing.  

If you have a coach who doesn't do anything over spring break then that's great go on your vacation.  But don't be surprised if you aren't very good at the end of the season.

At our high school a mother complained to the basketball coach her son couldn't go on a trip due to a holiday basketball tournament. The coach told her the kid had his permission to go on the trip. Just turn in his uniform before he leaves. I remember each year freshman parents would complain about baseball games scheduled during Easter vacation.

Confused by OP as well. But I'll agree with others. When HS vacation time comes, athletes get BUSY!

And that's all good.

30 years ago we didn't have homework on Christmas break either.  What's your point?  

Now I feel bad for the OP.

I've been unclear before. So LABall ... what exactly was your point?

Doing work you don't wanna do 5 out of the 7 days of the week is hard enough.

Breaks are much needed.

The point is the US schools are showing the drive, the commitment, and the importance of working on sports during "winter break." You telling me the kids really a mental break? but a physical break is not needed? Many times baseball forums have discussed things in Little League baseball that's not reality, where Pony baseball better mimics real baseball. Well the reality folks is that America is working on Thanksgiving and much of Christmas. The reality is America ranks relatively low in science and math compared to the rest of the world. But in sports, the NBA and MLB and the Olympics are among the highest. We have the best universities in the world, but the top PHDs are dominated by foreigners. I get that nerd studies are not glamorous or exciting like a a walk off HR. But that's all the more reason to put more emphasis on it.  

I remember once at the end of a school year an immigrant dad is saying good bye to the teacher and asking the teacher for summer school. The teacher reply's, no summer school, your son passed. But that is not what the dad was asking about.......

Honestly, when I pick up my son from school, one of the first things I want to ask is how was practice, or how was the game. But I remind myself to ask about school work, tests, grades first to show him that that is MY emphasis and is what is important.

Look at our economy, not just the USA , but the world. You better bust your butt when your young , because its hard to catch up when your older.  

I dont care if you all disagree with me. It maybe that Im not conveying my thoughts efficiently. But I know this is defiantly a problem with America

Life is about balance, and there are times to hit the academics hard, and times to break, just as there are times in sport to train, play and practice hard, and times to rest.

Too much of either piece, (and don't forget the arts, social activities, travel and all the other important things kids do while they're growing up) is never good. Kids who do more things, with passion, commitment, enthusiasm, tend to do all of them well.

As for practicing sport over vacation, it's a matter of timing. Maybe the players on a team that takes the vacation week off will be happy for the free time...but you know who's going to be even happier? The players on the team they're playing against in the first game back...

When my kids were in middle school they had school basketball off during the break. What did they do? They found open gyms and played basketball. In middle school they didn't have school baseball/softball during Easter break. What did they do? Threw and hit the batting cages every day. So in high school it wasn't a big deal to have practice or games during breaks. Fall high school sports started two to three weeks before school started. None of this prevented them from being NHS and going to quality colleges.

LABall,

I understand your point and I agree.   However, let's not put this all on the teachers.  No, I'm not a teacher or educator.   Parents and the kids themselves have a responsibility to continue to develop themselves during off season or breaks.  People are self-motivated in different ways.  Those that truly want to learn academically will do so without guidance and those that want to work on their swing/free throws/tennis serve, etc will do it on their own.   My two oldest kids will be home from college next week.  They will take some time to recover from finals and the all-nighters they put in this week and last week.   I predict by the end of next week both will be at my dining room table getting a jump on next semesters college courses, because they have to AND they want to if they want to stay on top of their studies.  I don't have to say a word to them about it, they just do it.

This is the internet age.  People can learn stuff on their own if they want to.  People can go to Khan academy, learn a new language, go to the gym or do specialized exercises (P90X) on their own.  So, my point is let's not focus on the teachers, educators or athletic directors let's focus on the parents and the kids.   They have to want it.   JMO.

Every high school sport has break times.  Football players, baseball players, so**er players, Lacrosse players all have winter break off.  Basketball players and wrestlers have to work during winter break.  Football players, basketball players have spring break off.  Baseball, Lacrosse, soccer all have to work during spring break.  If sports have their seasons and their off times, I think school should have their off times as well.  It's a time to get your sanity back.  A time to relax and hang out with your family and friends.  This time is needed for the young.  Shoot, it's needed for the old as well.  Why do you think people who work have the weekends off.  And why they are given vacation time from their employers?  It's because from time to time, a break is needed.  Why should school kids be any different?

I agree there is a problem.  US students lag badly in STEM courses.  You could take a up a lot of bandwidth listing the problems, effects, and root causes.    But I disagree with your linkage of that problem with school athletics.  On the contrary, I feel that the kids who are willing to work  hard to achieve athletic goals are the same kids who are likely to be willing to work  hard to achieve academic goals.  This is not only due to their own dedication, but due to the culture of work and achievement that they  surround themselves with by being student athletes. Among the long list of root causes I mentioned above, to me one of the most insidious and damaging is the culture of a failure that often exists among student peer groups.  Students fare poorly when academic success is considered to be uncool by their peers.  At least in my experience that is rarely the case among high school athletes.  For example, at my youngest kid's HS, players get progress reports from their teachers every Monday and take them to the coach.  You don't want to be the  kid who is at risk of academic disqualification.  At my elder kid's cross country awards banquet last week, over half the kids on Varsity were given certificates for carrying at least a 3.5 or 4.0 (unweighted) GPA for the semester so far.  This is in two public high schools.  I went to a small private school, where the linkage between academics and athletics was even stronger, and the same can be said for our local Catholic school, which dominates  in football and some other sports despite having an enrollment half the size of its competitors.  Both schools do VERY well in terms of college placements.

Speaking of my eldest:  the kid is working his a$$ off. He runs on average 6 miles a day. He's taking 6 courses. All are AP, honors, or IB, with STEM emphasis.  Unless he totally screws up his exams he's got a weighted 5.0 for the  semester.  24 hours after he's done with his last exam on Thursday we'll leave NorCal for a tropical Caribbean isle, where I expect him to do little more than hang with his cousins, ogle girls and snorkel for a week.   He deserves a break, and he needs it.  I think it will make him better able to face the academic pressure of the next two semesters, the last two that colleges will see before they weigh his applications.   And he'll still have a few days after we get back to work on summer program essays and get a head start on his reading.