Editorial: Fall Fallback
Nothing wrong with a little extra R&R
Finally, we’ll get a week off.
Just when you thought you would never fulfill that hallucinogenic mid-fall alcoholic Mexican vacation you’ve been craving for — the Students’ Association of Mount Royal University is fighting for you to ditch your already neglected responsibilities and dying work ethic, and enjoy yourself for an extra three work days with their Fall reading week.
That’s what Calgary’s leading talk radio station and conservative think-tank, QR77, would have you believe.
The radio station spoke to SAMRU’s VP Academic Tristan Smyth last week regarding his bold proposition to create a Fall Reading Week that is also being debated at the University of Calgary, the University of Alberta and the University of Saskatchewan.
The interview expressed that many of the people in QR77’s targeted audience went to school without a Fall break and did just fine, disregarding Smyth’s acknowledgment of the work and mental strain students often face during a semester.
What QR, and those who agree with them, fail to realize is that mental health is a huge factor with one of the largest at-risk groups for suicide being peoples aged 18-40 according to statistics Canada.
This idea presented that students facing daily stress of work, school, family and personal life should just tough it out, without the community support of their institution they pay thousands of dollars to attend is preposterous.
The simple fact is that yes, many will use the extra days off to skim responsibility, however, those battling symptoms of hopelessness, despair and helplessness will not.
A week to catch up, a week to let-go, a week to remember why you are are in school, a week to realize school isn’t right for you, a week to speak to a therapist, a week that could save someone’s life… that’s what SAMRU is rightfully proposing with a fall reading week.
To suggest that time off is just a continuing problem of millennial laziness is, in itself, a lazy answer to the complex problem of student mental health. We should continue to search out answers, as SAMRU has done, to help people live happy and fulfilled lives.
Simply saying that baby-boomers didn’t have a Fall reading break and therefore millennials shouldn’t is a disrespectful answer to people who are suffering daily and who would beg for even one day off.
– The Reflector Staff
