AS summer vacation begins next week, the everyday routine of “school to home” gets disrupted — not only for students but for their parents and teachers, as well.

“Here comes the summer vacation, the two months of ‘nightmare’ again,” laments Rebecca Wei, a 30-something white-collar worker who has a 9-year-old son. “Both my husband and I are at work. Now I am wracking my brains to work a summer vacation plan for him.”

Students may be eager to enjoy two months without early morning wake-ups or heavy loads of homework, but for their parents it’s a different story.

Grandparents ‘replace’ siblings

China’s “one-child policy” means kids lack the kinship of a sister or brother. On summer days when they are not in camp or a training class, they need something to do. Usually that’s the responsibility of the grandparents.

“When talking about summer vacation, I immediately get a headache,” complains Wu Meili, a 64-year-old retired worker. “My granddaughter is sent to my home, and I need to cook three meals a day plus escort her to one class in the morning and one class in the afternoon. I once asked my son not to register her for so many classes, but he answered that it was a regular practice for today’s students. The summer vacation hasn’t started, yet I already pray for it to end soon.”

For those parents who can’t receive help from grandparents, the summer custody class is an alternative.

“In my eyes, the summer custody class is a place that locks the children in an air-conditioned class for eight hours,” said Wu Qiong, the mother of an 8-year-old son. “Sure there will be a lunch and some better-than-nothing teaching of Chinese, English and some basic knowledge.”

But the cost of such summer custody classes has been increasing sharply, from 3,000 yuan (US$480) in prior years to 4,000 yuan this summer.

“This well proves the saying that it is easier to earn money from the pockets of women and children,” Wu said.

Parents spend time, energy, money

Making a plan for summer vacation becomes a challenge for most parents because it involves time, energy and money.

“I can’t leave my son at home with his grandparents,” Wei said. “All the old people can do is feed him or leave him to the television and computer games.”

This year Wei decided to register her son in a summer golf camp.

“It lasts about two weeks with a cost of nearly 10,000 yuan,” she said. “But I think it will do him good, as the summer camp emphasizes the building of masculine character with some interesting activities such as golf and swimming.”

In recent years, summer camps with various themes have become quite popular in town. The themes range from improving English oral skills to sports to overseas visits at universities. One thing these camps have in common — they are not cheap.

“I registered my daughter in a summer camp in the US last year,” said Christine Liu, a local consultant with a 14-year-old daughter.

“The charge for the camp is almost 40,000 yuan for 15 days. But I don’t have time to go with her and neither does my husband. We want to send her for overseas study in the future, so it is better to let her have a close encounter with the life and environment in the US earlier,” Liu added.

Summer is time to travel

“Every summer vacation, we make travel plans, otherwise the children will be disappointed,” said Song Li, a stay-at-home mother of a 12-year-old daughter. “In recent years, the pressures on the shoulders of the children get heavier. Almost everyone has to learn something during the summer vacation, such as English, Olympic mathematics, chess or Chinese writing. My daughter often complains that she is even busier during the summer vacation for different training sessions. So I would first bring her to a tourist destination to relax for a week or two, and then it is easier to bargain with her.”

For many parents, having their kids participate in different training sessions during summer is a way to enrich their lives.

“We all know the summer weather in Shanghai is terrible; usually outdoor activities are impossible due to the high temperature,” Li said. “I don’t think there is anything wrong with sending the child to training classes. It improves their ability to study and at least let them find something to do.”

Most Chinese parents would find it unbearable to see their child spend a day at home doing nothing.

Vacation little more than an illusion

Rodger He, a 7-year-old at a primary school, is excited about vacation.

“My parents will take me to Xinjiang to see the prairie,” he said. “But the trip is only about two weeks. When I am back, they will send me to the summer custody class, which is totally boring.”

His words are echoed by Li Siyan, a 15-year-old girl at a junior high school.

“I will travel with my parents to Spain in July,” she said. “But after the trip, I have to attend the training classes every day. You know what I hate the most is the repeated same sentence from the mouth of my parents — study, study, study for your own goodness. But I already sacrificed a lot for study. I learned piano at the age of 6, but I had to quit because of the heavy workload. I love to play piano, but now I hardly remember about my Bach and Beethoven.”

For many children, access to computer games or television during the summer vacation is forbidden.

Xu Wenwen, a 16-year-old high school boy, already knows that summer vacation really is an illusion.

“I am looking forward to the summer vacation but at the same time I know so clearly that it won’t be the real summer vacation as I expected. It is a tragedy to be a Chinese student, especially a Chinese student at a famed top school. How I wish that I could have a summer vacation under my control.”

Migrant parents worry about safety of kids

For most migrant worker parents, the priority for summer vacation is their children’s safety. Every summer, reports of accidental deaths including drowning, car accidents and falls, seem to especially hit migrant children.

Mao Yulan, who owns a small grocery, decided to send her 10-year-old daughter and 8–year-old son back to their grandparents in Zhejiang Province.

“My husband and I are busy working at this small grocery, and I don’t have time to keep an eye on the children during the summer vacation,” she said. “I have a friend whose son drowned last summer in a pond in the city’s suburbs. I am so afraid of this, and it is better to send them back.”

Mao says some of her friends keep their children at their side in the city. “My hometown in Zhejiang is quite near. What about those hometowns that are thousands of miles away from Shanghai? It is so inconvenient to send the children back,” she said. “One of my friends even quit her job for two months just to look after her son. The two-month salary is a big burden for a family like us, but after all, the safety of the child is much more important.”

Many children of migrant workers don’t have many choices for entertainment or study.

Li Guilan plans to take her 12-year-old daughter to the library every day in the summer on her way to work. “She can do homework and read the books that interest her in an air-conditioned environment,” Li said. “It is better than being locked in a small room without an air conditioner in the summer.”

For teachers, a time for extra income

In the eyes of many, one advantage of being a teacher lies in the much envied summer and winter vacation. Such a long vacation is rare among the working class. But for some teachers, summer vacation is a good opportunity to earn extra money.

“I have a small class at my home during the summer vacation,” said Wei Li, a 35-year-old mathematics teacher at a local primary school. “My five students come to my home three times a week. I charge each student for 3,000 yuan per month. Frankly speaking, the monthly salary for a primary school teacher is only several thousand yuan. Life is cruel. I don’t see anything wrong with earning easy money during the summer.”

“Shoulder pigs” (or bei zhuluo in Shanghai dialect) is a term used for teachers earning extra money outside school. But even if teachers want to earn extra money, not all of them can. Only Chinese, mathematics and English teachers are popular. Usually they charge from 100 yuan to 200 yuan per hour.

“I also wanted to make extra money during the summer vacation, but unluckily I am a natural science teacher,” said Han Lei, who works at a local primary school. “But besides the summer vacation and winter vacation, one of my colleagues also opened a small after-school class with several students. She charges each student 4,000 yuan per month and not only teaches them but also provides them with a dinner. I don’t agree with such practice, as the energy and time for each person is limited. How could she be a qualified teacher at school?”

Kindergarten teachers can earn easy money through teaching piano and painting.

“The demand from the parents is beyond your expectation,” Han said.

“Today, parents are willing to pour whatever they can think of into the brains of their children,” she added.