Experts urge children to spend summer break in nature and with their elders

Experts recommend replacing hotel stays with time in nature, visits to older relatives, and cultural activities during summer break to support children's development. They emphasize that reducing screen time is a prerequisite for social development.

With schools closing and families turning to holiday plans, experts issued important warnings about how the summer break should be spent for children. They noted that prolonged screen time and detachment from nature, village life, and family relationships harm children's development, and stressed that the summer holiday should be seen as a chance to strengthen family bonds and offer children new experiences.

Cultural and nature experiences over hotel vacations

Ethics and Social Values Expert Prof. Dr. Esra Akın said that it has become common to think of summer holiday solely as a hotel stay. Pointing out that nearly every city in Turkey has museums and cultural centers, Akın emphasized the need to highlight artistic activities so that children, who are trapped in front of phone and television screens all year, can develop empathy with other lives.

Prof. Dr. Akın noted that a family theater outing or a concert attended together can create unforgettable moments for children, and emphasized that concepts such as grandmother, grandfather, uncle, and aunt are cornerstones in a child's life. She stated that the summer break should be used to mend and strengthen these neglected bonds.

"Young people should spend more time with their grandfathers and grandmothers"

Prof. Dr. Akın stated that young people listening to the life experiences of their elders would help them become more confident and conscious individuals. "Our young people especially should spend more time with their grandfathers and grandmothers. They should listen to their life experiences and take lessons for their own lives. This practice will enable young people to walk through life more confidently and consciously," Akın said, noting that the perception that summer holidays should be spent every day at the beach or pool is incorrect.

Akın noted that people absorbed in city life gradually distance themselves from the concept of village life, and stated that children being in close contact with nature, soil, and animals positively contributes to both physical and mental development. Pointing out that technology-related problems such as attention deficit, learning difficulties, and anxiety are less common in children who connect with nature, Akın said environmental awareness and love for animals are shaped in this way.

Taking a break from learning during the holiday causes children to regress

Child Development Specialist and Psychologist Filiz Yıldırım stressed that it is wrong to view the summer break merely as a rest period. Noting that children who spend time only on activities like hotels, sea, and pool become disconnected from learning processes, Yıldırım said that taking a long break from learning during the three-month holiday leads to regression in children. "When schools open in September, a child starts with 30 percent learning loss. Research shows this," she said.

Explaining that reading books daily, reviewing the previous year's topics, and using holiday workbooks keeps a child's mind engaged in learning, Yıldırım highlighted the importance of maintaining a daily learning habit, even in small amounts.

Staying away from screens is a prerequisite for social development

Stating that a child needs to enter social environments and interact with people for social skills to develop, Yıldırım emphasized that keeping them away from screens is a prerequisite for social development. She said that time spent with family, board games, gatherings in nature, and meeting older relatives offer great opportunities for children's socialization.

Yıldırım also touched on the importance of raising children not just as consumers but as individuals who contribute to their surroundings. She noted that small acts like giving water to stray animals in the summer heat and drawing attention to trees and nature increase children's interaction with the world they live in.

Noting that intergenerational communication is decisive in children's identity development, Yıldırım said, "A child grows by drawing nourishment from their roots and becomes an adult. Staying connected to one's roots is extremely valuable. Therefore, during the summer holiday, it is immensely beneficial for a child's nervous system to visit the distant older relatives whom we cannot see during the school term, spend time with them, and eat food prepared by their hands," highlighting the importance of visiting older family members.