"Holiday homework, 250 million wasted every year". Absolute veto from the pediatrician

Italo Farnetani relaunches his war on schoolbooks in the summer: "Useless and counterproductive stress. Instead, let's send children to swimming lessons, given that only 3 out of 10 know how to stay in the sea safely". Appeal to parents awaiting the 2025 Green Flags on child-friendly beaches

"Every year, Italian families spend a total of 250 million euros on books for holiday homework, with an average cost of 40 euros per student." This is "money wasted" for pediatrician Italo Farnetani, a historic champion of summers free from exercises to do and notions to learn: "Useless and counterproductive stress for children and teenagers" who should have only one duty during the months off from school: to relax, play sports, have fun with parents, relatives and friends, meet new people and new environments. In short: to rest the mind and enrich it with life experiences. As the last bell approaches, the doctor relaunches his "absolute veto on holiday homework. Always and above all at the seaside," Farnetani, the father of the 'Green Flags' that mark child-friendly beaches and will be waving again in a few days, tells Adnkronos Salute. The announcement of the winning beaches for 2025 is expected next Friday, May 23.

"The same money that is spent every year on holiday books would be more useful to invest in a pizza together, parents and children", says Farnetani, full professor of Pediatrics at the Ludes-United Campus of Malta University. "Summer holidays without worries, especially not educational ones - he explains - are necessary for two reasons. First of all because the high temperatures of the summer season, even more scorching today due to climate change, are incompatible with learning. And it is not even right to invite people to study during the cool hours - the expert specifies - because in the morning the body is not yet in full shape, especially in terms of reasoning".

The second reason is that "children and adolescents need to have time off from school commitments, both to be able to spend more time outdoors - and we know how important movement and physical activity are - and to enrich themselves with new experiences. They need to explore the environment, get to know different places, situations and people. Even with all this, holiday homework is incompatible, as well as being counterproductive because it risks prolonging the stress of learning. It is clear that the role of school is fundamental in the education of young people - Farnetani clarifies - but it is appropriate that children have a period in which they can empty their minds, reset school commitments and cultivate what we call 'resilience from the effort of learning'". A switch to 'off' mode which, the pediatrician never tires of repeating, "is necessary and essential".

"On May 23, we will announce the new Green Flags that indicate the beaches suitable for children chosen by pediatricians," the specialist recalls. "Here, if homework is always discouraged during the holidays, it is absolutely forbidden during the seaside holiday - he warns - because we must leave children and adolescents free to fully immerse themselves in the marine atmosphere, without any reference to school. The seaside holiday is" for Farnetani "one of the greatest experiences that a minor can have, so please let them live it in complete freedom. Not only will it be an emotional enrichment, but it will be a source of new experiences that will also prove useful to facilitate reasoning when, back at school, the child or adolescent will be called upon to understand new realities".

"The only 'homework' I assign, the only lesson I admit and actually recommend is swimming," the pediatrician concludes. "I recommend promoting physical activity always and in any case, but especially when we are at the seaside: let's make sure that children learn to swim, to be in the water safely," is the doctor's appeal. Farnetani has conducted research by collecting some data: "Only 30% of minors know how to swim effectively," he reports; "30% only know how to float, 10% know how to swim in the pool, but not in the sea, and 30% don't know how to swim at all. So let's try to fill this gap," urges the expert. "Not to raise swimming champions, but to allow kids to experience the sea in maximum safety. This - in conclusion - is the only lesson that children should attend, the only holiday homework that is admissible, recommended and useful for life."