Reduce social problems from disaffected, bored youth.  The structure of the school year is often one of the few fixed points in young people’s lives. For many children, particularly those from poorer families, long summer holidays don’t mean summer camps and foreign holidays, but day after day sitting in front of the TV or hanging around in their neighbourhood. All the evidence suggests that boredom is a major factor behind social problems like drug use, youth crime and antisocial behaviour. [1]  Year-round schooling would not get rid of problems like these, of course, but it might help to reduce the level of such behaviour by giving young people something to do.  [1] “Youths bored in school holidays”, BBC News, 11th July 2007.