It's true that one of the main concerns that teachers and students share about summer break is the possibility of students being unable to retain all the knowledge they worked hard to learn during the school year. One proposed solution to this issue has been the inclusion of summer projects to a school's curriculum, which would keep students' minds active and learning. The debate that surrounds this proposal, however, is whether or not students should be able to design their own projects. With all the year-round curriculum which is already massively teacher-lead, the most appropriate time to allow students to take creative liberties with their learning should be their summer break, and, by extension, on their summer project.

Students tend to lead pretty similar academic careers. While it's true they're able to somewhat diversify their areas of study in high school, the required classes remain the same, and within them, the information students are required to learn. Summer is the one escape from the rigid and rigorous schedule they otherwise must always follow. It's the best time to allow them to explore their interests, and the assignment itself will impose less on their break if they're able to fill their time with something they're actually engaged in. It grants them freedom while simultaneously fulfilling their academic needs.

It's not only true that allowing students to lead their own projects would be better for their summer liberty, but doing so would also increase the quality of the work they submit overall. The undeniable truth is that students have constant unmitigated access to all the information online they could hope to find; and while pulling from web sources can be a solid way to find information, when a project is heavily reliant on it, the student doesn't have to do much "learning" at all. If a student is assigned a topic they can't stand, they're far less likely to invest their time into committing the research to memory. When they have the freedom to pick something they're passionate about, however, there's a greater probability they'll put their effort into producing a paper that they and their teachers can actually be proud of.

Creativity and independence are crucial skills for students to pick up and carry with them throughout their life. Schools may teach a lot of classic skills, like time managment and memorization, but the opportunities for self-discovery and leadership can be limited. Allowing students a chance like this would broaden their horizons and guide them in developing their interests and strengths. Even their potential shortcomings with taking on such an self-supervised project would prepare them for the real world, where they'll have to complete projects on their own frequently.

If students are expected to grow and flourish, they must be given the chance to expand beyond their highly-regulated school environment. When it comes to the issue of summer projects, this means granting them the freedom of expression they need to create truly engaging products. It would provide them with valuable life skills, support them on a path of self-expression, and steer them away from taking the easy way out online. As a plus, it would allow them not to feel as though their one much-needed break is being encroached on. Taking into account all the positive effects of allowing students to lead their own summer projects, it would almost be irresponsible not to grant them the freedom to decide for themselves what they'd like to create for their summer project.