Many schools in the country today require that their students complete summer projects, they do this under the notion that these ( teacher designed ) projects will enssure that the students' education will be furthered during their designated breaks. Although this is true in the sense that the students will be focused over the break and will be furthering their education, it is false in the sense that a teacher designed project will help students. If the students were able to design their own projects for summer then, they would be less stressed upon their arrival at school the following year, and the students would be able to have a chance to be creative.

The mental health crisis is at the forefront of many schools' agendas, today the mental health of many teens has plummeted to all-time lows. There is one common factor in the mental health crisis, stress. Stress plays a large role in daily life and some people view it as a tool that can be used by people to grow, but for many stress has the adverse affect of overwhelming students and causing them to do things they otherwise would not do; For example this can be seen in the sudden surge of school shootings, bomb threats, and fights. The world notices the effects that such large workloads over prolonged periods can have on teens, that is why now, although there is almost no need for a break as there was in the 1800's, many still advocate for them. Breaks are seen as necessary de-stressers for people, especially teenagers. Teachers, although wanting the best for their students, often misjudge the amount of work and the difficulty levels associated with teacher designed summer assignments. If students were able to create their own assignments then they could spend less time stressing over what ( a teacher they do not know) wants as well as how they can complete the assignment, and they could focus more on a topic that intrests them and that they can complete in their own timely manner. Teacher designed projects often give students much anxiety and cause great stress to the student during their supposed "break" from school, a student designed project however, would allow for the students to pick a topic that will not stress them out and that they can complete making the students altoghether less stressed upon their arrival at school after the break. For example, this past summer I had 2 teacher designed projects to complete over the summer and I was taking a class already, this caused me great stress as I was not completely sure of what the two teachers wanted, as well as the fact that I was exhausted upon my arrival at school the following year.

In the real-world creativity is something that is in demand, many adults were not taught to be creative at a young age, which is why a student designed project is so important. A student designed project would give the students an opportunity that many adults never had at exploring their creative side. In many schools today creativity is not often emphasised, although this is true, the real-world strives for creativity, and not allowing the students grow as people by exploring topics that interest them and letting them create things would be a disservice to not only them, but society as a whole. For example, many students nowadays spend more time searching for the answers online to the excessive amount of dreadfully bland work assigned to them, then they do in actually completing the assignment themselves. another example would be that many students have a capacity for creativity and that the world will only progress as long as the future people who will run it are creative, and have the ability to think outside the box, for a few this skill comes naturally, but for many it is learned. Schools need prepare the youth of today for the future that is quickly approaching, there are many problems that must be fixed and can only be fixed by creative thinkers. Everything a person does, their actions, their thoughts, their speech, is all derived from the classroom; With that in mind, the importance of a student designed assignment (although miniscule) is detrimental to the future successes of society.

Some people claim that students will take advantage of a student designed project and use it as an excuse to do little to no work at all. This argument, although enticing, is false, due to the fact that a student will gain more knowledge of a topic if it is of their choosing, instead of doing what many do now, which is simply going online and searching for the answers. A student can learn almost nothing except how to efffectively cheat from a teacher designed project. I know from personal experience that I learned much more from a student designed project then a teacher designed project, mainly because I was more interested in the topic that I had chosen than i was in the topic of the teacher designed project. Also if a teacher does worry about students taking advantage of the student designed project option, then they can create a set of vague (topic wise) yet direct (requirement wise) guidelines for the student to follow, which would also help with grading of said student assignments.

Whereas the topic of student designed projects versus teacher designed projects can be seen as somewhat trivial, it infact is anything but that. There is a clear choice in how schools and teachers should proceed with summer assignments, and that is having them be student designed. Allowing students to design their own projects has many more positive factors than negative. With the assignment of said student designed projects, the students will not only be less stressed (which slows the common trend of violence and poor mental health), but they will have the opportunity to be creative and effectively grow as person, and in doing so, could become the future leaders of tomorrow. Allowing students to complete self designed projects would be extremely benficial to students worldwide.