[Daniel_Newby]

I would argue that the "summer slide" is, in fact, valuable. School teaches many skills beyond academics: social conditioning, conformity to inescapable bullies, observation of strict schedules for intellectual work, strict compartmentalization of activities, coping with a homogenous social environment of people of the same level of immaturity, and so forth.

Most of these are profoundly maladaptive in the adult world. We want them to forget most of that garbage. Students grow up to be civilized adults in spite of these teachings, and a large summer break is a great opportunity to reconnect with humanity and the adult world.