Summer school used to be the place where you had to go in order to make up lost school time, or if you wanted to pass to the next grade. Now summer school has turned into an “educational” day care for kids of all ages. And that should worry all of us.

Kids these days are getting less and less play time. They need free time to roam around, explore things, hang out with friends and generally just be kids. But numerous studies bemoan the fact that kids currently are over-scheduled, over-exposed to the media and under-exposed to nature and using their imaginations.

Going to summer school, either as a requirement or some sort of camp, means that kids don’t have a real break from formal learning, social requirements and more scheduling.

In my day, summer was about going on family vacations, building obstacle courses to run around in the back yard, doing chores and being home with family. Granted, that assumed you had a parent at home willing and able to supervise, cook a few meals and generally just be there. That lifestyle seems to be going the way of the dodo — and that ends up hurting our children.

Having more “educational opportunities” isn’t always what our children need when they’re young or as they get older. Sometimes what teenagers need most is to go out and get a job.

Nationally syndicated columnist Ruben Navarrette Jr. points out that a major problem for America today is the work ethic — or lack thereof — in young adults. Part of the problem is that kids are now told their “job” is school. But with huge numbers of college freshmen needing remedial classes to even succeed in college, maybe we should focus on things important in the real world.

Navarrette suggests that having a job, even just in the summer, teaches kids the real life skills they need: showing up on time, being a good worker, and doing a job even if you don’t like it. It is because the young adults of America won’t work that we have our current immigration problem, he says.

Here in Tooele, we don’t have year-round school. We can truly enjoy an extended summer vacation. But it’s only a vacation if you do something away from the normal routine.

There can be lots of opportunities to learn cool stuff at summer school — the life cycle of the mosquito, why recycling is important or how plants grow. But there is education and then there is learning. Let’s give our kids an opportunity to learn in the real world.

Ann Herron is a journalist and former associate professor at Utah State University who lives in Tooele. She can be reached at annherron@comcast.net.