As a teacher, I catch snippets of what happens during spring break. A lot of it sounds like wholesome fun. And a lot of what I hear is what parent's nightmares are made of. As far as I've gathered, the negative experiences students have involve the usual: alcohol, drugs, and risky behavior. I imagine scenes like in the movie
Project X except with more palm trees and beaches and things happening over the course of several days in what may or may not be a crime-ridden developing nation.
That's kind of scary. And yet it's become a rite of passage for many juniors and seniors. Often with parental endorsement. This does NOT apply to all kids, but definitely to some.
Yet even in the best scenarios, spring break is often an excuse to be self-indulgent. I get that. I love being self-indulgent: I've got my smartphone, my Playstation 3, my iPad mini, my DirecTv, some sperrys, some Hilfiger, some Ralph Lauren . . . the list goes on and on. And you know what, many of our kids have as much or more than I do. So there comes a time when I wonder if a traditional spring break trip to Florida or Mexico or elsewhere is really just cherry on top of an already overflowing ice cream sundae.
Maybe it can and should be different -- at least for ONE of four spring breaks in high school.
For the last, oh, about eight years or so -- as NHS adviser or Student Government adviser -- I've wanted to put together an alternative spring break. I've hoped for a spring break where students volunteer to go help some people in need. This is not a new idea. Where I first taught, it was a tradition to go to a different location and do something charitable like help build a house. There were typically few students who went -- maybe eight to ten -- but it wasn't about the size of the group. It was about the
intent of the group.
I feel it's much more life-affirming, more global, more humanitarian to give up some time to help others. And I'd love to provide this opportunity to students at DeWitt High school. I think there is a need for doing something that big, of having a kind of adventure that doesn't deal with risque behavior. Oh, even the kids who go once on this kind of spring break trip may still partake in such risque activities, but at least they'll also have had an experience that asks more of them.
So, this year I've actually asked a student to begin planning a spring break trip. That step alone is as much or more than we have ever done before. Perhaps during spring 2014 we'll have a new option available for students. Surely there will be plenty of places that need assistance. It may even be likely we could help communities still suffering the effects of hurricane Sandy just like the Louisiana took many years to recover from Katrina.
I hope students and the community are supportive of this trip and we can make an alternative spring break a tradition at our school.