Fall Break

What is fall break? I never had one when I was in school or in college. It's quite common now. Some students just started classes in August or September and it's already time for a break. Please and good grief! The college where I teach doesn't have a fall break, but the school systems in the area have this break. Other colleges in the state have this hiatus also. I think it's bizarre with just a few weeks or a couple of months in we need a break from it all so soon. I'm not sure what we're advocating here. How many working folks get a fall break? I'm positive many of us wish the stock market were on fall break. What about the presidential candidates? Isn't it time they took a break from the traveling and talking? My point is that in the real world there isn't a fall break. The only break we get from work is a week of vacation--if we're lucky. For some the only respite is a sick day--without pay. What do working parents of grade school children do with their kids during this time? I guess they trade a week in school for a week in daycare instead. Administrators and teachers sat around thinking of ways to get in-service training days in during the school year so they wouldn't have to waste precious summertime days and this is what they came up with. Oh, I'm sure they could dig up some statistics that say students perform better with frequent breaks--I say it all sounds a little bit like bovine fecal matter to me.