Is it just me or is the coverage this year overdone? I don't recall much of that when I was a kid, maybe a mention of school bus stop weather and that was it.

This year, it's the full court press, journos on bus ridealongs, helicopters, it seemed like that was all that was on the news for a good couple of days.

Plus, there is all this "welcome back" stuff from the schools - can kids be more coddled than they are already? They are supposed to be there, there should be no recognition for doing what one is supposed to do.

No wonder these kids don't make it in the real world, where there is rejection aplenty. I recall some schools banning red ink for grading for crying out loud!

Why not have school year round, so we can forget this nonsense? It doesn't make sense to have buildings, buses, etc sit empty for a few months a year, it will keep the kids out of trouble, they won't forget everything, and it will prepare them for a lifetime of less than 2 weeks "vacay" on average. The kids are bored by July 4th anyways.