Free time - summer 07

Francesca Done 12GR

Nowadays some adults think that children have “far too much time on their hands” and waste the days away by staring at the TV. However many children and teenagers use their time efficiently and need time to just relax and do whatever they want, but sometimes I agree that some people waste time doing pointless things.

Take this past summer for instance. At the end of GCSEs year 11 students have around 3 months for their summer holidays and sometimes it can be a struggle to find stuff to do, but like many other people I still managed to get a lot of stuff done over the summer. During term time, especially at important times like GCSEs and A levels, the weekends fly by and by the time all your work is done its Monday! So holidays create time to not worry about doing essays or coursework and just create totally relaxed time.

In the summer of ’07 I was always organising things to do with my friends to make sure the summer didn’t go to waste. At the start of the summer me and four friends went to stay in France in a friends villa for a week. It was great fun and all gave us something to look forward to whilst going through the dreaded revision! Seeing as we were unsupervised on holiday we were determined to do things rather than just sit in the villa all day everyday. So we planned days out using public transport and walking and then usually the day after we just chilled out around the pool and relaxed to the max. It was good because usually after a day out we were pretty tired and were able to have a nice long lie in the day after.

I also spent a lot of time in Abersoch in Wales over the summer. My parents have a caravan down there so we all stay in it together. It’s great because my parents have lots of friends there and so do me and my sister so we don’t have to hang around with them all the time. It’s a great place to go on holiday as most places are close together, so a night out can finish with a walk on the beach back to the caravan. Also because it’s only about 2 hours from Chester we’re able to pop back home now and then. When we were in Abersoch an average day usually was wake up around eleven have some breakfast, go down to the beach, grab a bit of lunch around 3ish then head back to the caravan at around 6 then have a bit more food, then go out in Abersoch. We have been going to Abersoch for about 10 years now and we all still love it as much as we did when we were little!

But it’s not always about going away which makes free time fun! It’s great to just hang out with friends. Whether it’s going out to a party, or just staying in with a DVD. Most of the people I know get stressed during term time due to school work and pressure so it’s good to just have a stress free weekend and relax with your mates. In my experience rather then complaining about nothing going on, it’s better to make things happen! Plan day trips! There a great way of earning independence, learning your way around new places or having fun just getting lost in big cities! A few times over the summer I saved some money up and went to Manchester and spent it all on a load of clothes I didn’t need. It was great fun taking advantages of all the shopping facilities Manchester has that Chester doesn’t have (like urban outfitters!).

When September came around this year I was ready to go back. Although I had a great summer, three months is a long time. I’m afraid to say that I always get excited about the first day back of school. With all your fresh new pens and pencils its great to catch up with some people you never got around to see over the summer. Especially this year after so long it was good to get into the routine of school. Although now I wish it was still summer and the weekends are over before you know it, I think it definitely makes me use my free time efficiently. So do you think teenagers have too much free time?