The final school bell rings and you are finally released from the gates of school that have restricted you from all of your most treasured activities: sleeping, hanging out with friends, sleeping, watching TV, and sleeping.

Now that you have gotten through another long and strenuous school year, it seems like the perfect time to sleep in till 2 PM and sit on the couch watching Netflix all day, every day. However, you may want to think twice about this decision.

While many see summer as a time to be sluggish and relax, they may not realize the detrimental effects summer laziness can have in the future.

According to a study done by the National Summer Learning Association, students around the nation show little or no academic growth over the summer due to a loss of one to three months of learning. When the school year begins again, many teachers are forced to re-teach their students many basic skills because the kids have forgotten a lot of necessary learning concepts over the summer.

Many students don’t notice these setbacks; however, their lack of learning during the summer set them back each year and denying them the opportunity to expand their learning to new levels.

Summer is a great time to have fun and sleep in, but it is also important for students to realize the importance of reading a book or going over some basic school concepts in order to prepare them for the school year ahead.

To solve this increasing predicament, many schools around the nation are attempting to increase student productivity over the summer by offering summer programs to review and expand on topics taught during the school year.

At Liberty, these extra steps have not been taken, so it is a student’s responsibility to take charge of their own learning experience and review throughout the summer—if they are up to the challenge.