Have you ever wondered why kids get summers off from school? A lot of people think it’s because kids were needed to help out on farms in rural communities during the summer, but that’s not true! They were actually most needed in the spring, when crops were planted, and in the fall, when they were harvested. Historically, many kids in rural areas went to school in the summer when they were less needed on the farm.
However, it was a different story for kids who lived in urban areas. In the 1800s, school wasn’t mandatory. In most cities, schools were pretty much open all year and kids went when they could. During the sweltering summer months, many upper-class families left the city for cooler areas in the northeast. Schools would often cancel classes during this time because of low daily attendance. As train travel became more popular, middle-class families followed similar patterns.
By the late 1800s, reformers started pushing for a standardized school calendar across urban and rural areas. Legislators argued that schools should be closed in the summer months, since most were empty at that time anyway. By the turn of the century, urban school districts shaved off 60 days from their schedule, and rural schools followed suit so they wouldn’t fall behind. Today, summer break is around two or three months long. Italy has one of the longest summer breaks in the world, lasting around three months from early June to early September.
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