SPRING BREAK

(Redirected from Spring Break)

:''For an article concerning the euphemism for Easter break, see Spring Holiday.''

'Spring break', also 'March break' in some parts of Canada, is a week-long recess from studying in early spring at universities and K-12 schools in the United States, Canada, Japan, Korea, China and other countries.

Contents

Background

Popular destinations

See also

References

Background

In the United States, spring break may range from the end of February to late April, but many schools are out for one of the weeks in March. Some schools call this 'March break' when it is a middle week in March. Many K-12 institutions in the United States coincide their spring break with Easter and Passover.
In Canadian universities, it is known as 'reading week' and is in late February or early March.
In Japan, the spring break starts with the end of the academic year in March and ends on April 1 with the beginning of a new academic year.
In Hispanoamerica, spring break usually coincides with Holy Week, the last week of Lent.
From the end of World War II until the 1980s, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was a notorious spring break destination in the United States. On March 19, 2006, the New York Times reported that Fort Lauderdale's reputation as a spring break destination for college students started when the Colgate University men's swimming team went to practice there over break in 1935.[1] Fort Lauderdale became even more popular due to the 1960 film ''Where the Boys Are'', in which college girls met boys while on spring break there.
Spring break's notorieties include increased drinking and sexuality, including public nudity. Residents of the Fort Lauderdale area became so upset at the damage done by vacationers, that the local government passed laws restricting parties in 1985. By 1989, the number of college vacationers fell to 20,000, a far cry from the 350,000 who went to Fort Lauderdale four years prior.[2] Most recently in 2006 the Fort Lauderdale local government passed even more laws to prevent spring breakers from traveling there for Spring Break 2007 and many to come.
Spring break party goers responded by moving to the more liberal community of Daytona Beach area (over 200,000 students traveled there each spring at its peak), but after Daytona's local government undertook similar measures, the crowds of the mid-1990s and early 2000s had fallen to a point where "a few students still come, but officials don't even estimate their numbers."[3] Fort Lauderdale suffered a recession as a result of the self-imposed boycott, but the local hotel industry survived by catering to the retirement population. Panama City Beach, Florida remains a popular spring break destination.

Popular destinations

The most popular spring break spots in 2007 were predicted to be Cancún, Mexico; Rosarito, Mexico; Acapulco, Mexico; South Beach, Florida; Panama City Beach, Florida; South Padre Island, Texas; Negril, Jamaica; Nassau, Bahamas; and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.[4].
A popular choice for Spring Breakers on the east coast is to set out a "road trip" ranging from Boston all the way down to popular destinations spoken of before in Florida.
In recent years, Las Vegas has also become a spring break destination for many college students, despite its lack of beaches and restriction on its drinking and gambling activities to those aged 21 and above. [5]

See also

★ Schoolies week, Australian tradition of high-school graduates having week-long holidays following the end of their final exams

★ ''The Real Cancun'' (2003 film)

★ ''Beach Life'', a 2002 videogame released as 'Spring Break' in America.

★ ''Spring Broke'', a book of photographs by Nathaniel Welch, powerHouse Books, April 2004.

References