Sam Poole: Society will pay the price for banning family holidays in term-time

Many of us are guilty of worshipping the sun wanting to get a tanned body. It appears as soon as the temperature rises above a certain level we take every opportunity to throw on our summer clothes. I’m certainly one to do this and love relaxing outdoors when the weather is good. With some cold drinks, good company and a barbecue lit, life doesn’t get much better. However, finding the time to do this is limited; many of us are too busy earning a living. Quite often the time we have to ourselves is spent chilling independently or doing something which needs to be done. I often struggle to fit in some time to myself. Much of my spare time is consumed with catching up with friends and family. I imagine it’s challenging for families to have some time together in the warm weather: home or abroad. Firstly, the main chance they have to appreciate the good weather at home is during the school holidays. But even school holidays limit what you can do as parents are unable to take off the full duration of the summer. It’s never the same out and about in the sun in our home town compared to being in a foreign country. You find yourself bumping into people you know and understanding everything around you. Therefore there is a limited sense of adventure. Having a break abroad isn’t the easiest thing to arrange either. Not only are parents not allowed to take their children out of school for a holiday but they also get fined for doing so. Can we really blame them, taking into consideration the inflated prices during the school holiday season? Families deserve the right to collectively have a break and build a collection of shared memories together. I understand the importance of keeping your children in full time education. But it’s not fair for parents who have to fork out hundreds of more pounds because of the time of year. I am confident we will see a rise in the amount it costs to have a holiday. As a result of this we will see fewer families enjoying a break away. I believe having some time out away from where we learn, earn, and live is really important. I’m sure we will see, several years from now, the detrimental effect the rule on not taking your children out of school will have.