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These two boys relax the day away. This is what summer is all about, relaxation.Nashaunna Drummond, Freelance Writer
AS A CHILD growing up in deep rural Manchester, summer was the most exciting time of the year for me. It meant no school, more hours to play - I mean all day - and 'tuffing up' my 'soft' cousins who would come down from Kingston for the holidays. It meant going to the fields with my grandparents to help shell pimento (which we could sell and keep the money for ourselves), or just running around in the fields playing with devil riding horses.
Depending on one's perspectives, children today don't have as much fun as we did back in the days. They are the computer generation with nintendos, computer games and cable TV. They do not know how to have good ol' fun - of running free, spending time with grandparents, playing with friends and doing what children do best.
But while summer can be a child's best friend, for parents it can be their worst nightmare. Although it may mean a few extra hours of sleep - if you don't have to fight rush-hour traffic - it also means you have to find suitable entertainment for your child for the 1,488 hours of summer.
Deciding what to do with the children can be quite a stress. "I worry about what to do with them," said Helen Henry, mother of two, a 14-year-old son and a 10-year-old daughter. Like many parents, she will be "FedExing" them off to the States. This has become a very popular way out for parents and each summer, the airlines cart hordes of children to various destinations throughout North America. According to Sue Rosen of Air Jamaica, the increased traffic is anticipated and extra flight attendants are deployed to accommodate these minors. The national airline offers the Unaccompanied Minor option - at no cost - thus giving parents a reprieve of an extra fare. Miss Rosen says the service is very popular and children are guaranteed royal treatment.
And if holidaying overseas is not an option, the newspapers have been bombarded for weeks with all kinds of attractive deals for summer schools and camps. They promise endless hours of fun to "explore the artistic side of your children, spark their interest, or help them in their general academics".
