What Rappahannock offers

What Rappahannock offers

By Naomi Smoot-Kimble

Special to the Rappahannock News

Remember summer vacation? Three months of fun, sun and relaxation without teachers, homework or alarm clocks.

Many school districts around the nation are opting to turn these lazy days of summer into mere memories.

And as more schools adopt year-round calendars others fear the disadvantage their students may have because of the three-month break from structured classroom learning.

Dr. Jerry Martin of Rappahannock’s Clinic said these vacations have outlasted their usefulness.

“Summer vacations, to me, are a hold over from when we were an agrarian society,” he said.

Summer vacation, he .explained in an interview, was initially intended as a break from classes so children could assist their families with farm work. Now that America has moved towards a less agrarian society, and children are less likely to participate in the labor force, vacations are less of a necessity.

Martin said that the modem benefits of a summer vacation vary depending on how children spend their time.

“If you’re going to sit in front of the television all day, then I think it’s a horrible idea,” he said. “Sedentary life styles lead to being overweight. I think kids need to exercise their muscles, they need to learn sports.”

If children are active during this time off he feels the results are different.

“It’s really a golden opportunity to broaden your horizons, to read books and to learn new sports,” he said.

Virginia Miller, a registered nurse who also works at Rappahannock’s Clinic said many children are inactive during the summer months. “They sit and watch television all day. That’s why kids are so obese, they spend too much time with video games and computers,” said Miller.

Ann Baumgardner, Director of Blue Ridge Counseling Services in Warrenton, says there can be many benefits to a well-used summer vacation. When children have the opportunity to take vacations and spend time with their family she said it can be an excellent opportunity for bonding. ‘Tor the kids that can’t have that,” she said, “it’s a negative thing.”

Tb her, television is not as big of a problem as a lack of supervision. “Now that a lot of parents work outside the home, more children are left unsupervised. They may be left by themselves all day. They need supervision,” she said.

How does one solve the perceived ills of summer?

“The obvious answer,” Martin said, “is to get rid of the television, or restrict its use. People see it as a surrogate babysitter.”

This can be seen in the vast amount of time children spend with their television sets, both watching and playing.

According to James D. Ivory of the University of Wyoming, in 1993 children were spending an average of 4.2 hours per week playing video games. The

See SUMMER, Page B4