How Christian teens can make the most of their post-GCSE summer

With nearly three months off, young people can do more than just “chill.” Nesu Kwaramba believes Christian parents play a vital role in helping teens use this once-in-a-lifetime break for rest, growth, and unforgettable memories

80 days – That’s how much time 16-year-olds have off after their GCSEs – that’s nearly 3 months of free time. You’d think that after all the stress, anxiety, worry, revision cards, past papers, and the constant barricade of reminders to study, a young person would have a rough idea of what they intend to do with this freedom. Of course, they had Prom – and one had to feel sorry for some of them dressed in suits in 33 degrees Celsius! Yet now that this is done, it seems that many of the GCSE year, as well as those in other years – have no concrete ideas whatsoever of what they intend to do during the summer besides a vague idea of ‘chilling.’

the summer holiday, and particularly the post-GCSE summer holiday, is a time for laughter, after the cries of the exam period

Some would argue that once the ex-year 11s have recovered from the mental exhaustion, they’re better poised to consider how they might maximise this once in a lifetime window to make some significant investments in their future. But my experience is that some of them will in fact do little outside gaming marathons, doom scrolling and a handful of spontaneous excursions organised by family and friends; and whilst these are all great ways to rest, my worry is that many young people will fail to venture beyond this and so fail to ……