Whatever happened to letting kids be kids - at least for a portion of their lives?

Langley's school trustees are expected to decide tonight whether or not to put Langley's children on a year-round education treadmill, with a few modest breaks from the classroom, instead of the lengthy summer vacation that most of us enjoyed while growing up.

Even setting aside any concerns for children and their childhood, the logistics of plunging one school district into a year-round classroom schedule while virtually all others around us maintain the traditional summer vacation will be nightmarish for many families whose yearly plans depend on at least some synchronization between their children's school breaks.

Indeed, synchronization presents a serious flaw in the proposal to pull Langley out of the mainstream.

Kids who might have opportunities for acquiring summer jobs outside of Langley will be out of sync with other communities.

Likewise, potential summer employers will find their opportunities to share specialized experiences dramatically reduced. Not every kid in Langley will be a perfect fit for every part-time job available in Langley - and many local employers will have their own families operating on non-Langley school schedules.

And the weather has some significant steps in this dance. We tend not to get the dramatically nasty weather that other climes experience - but July and August are really the only months when kids can reasonably expect to get some serious outside time.

At the very least, this sort of decision should be regional or provincial.

The final decision in Langley will rest with a small group of men and women who have been entrusted with the educational well-being of our children.

Let's hope they haven't forgotten how much they were able to learn outside the classroom during their own journey into adulthood.