After reading each essay, it is obvious that they both apply to the topic of their children and their children’s development. Gibb’s essay resorts to a less restricting method of how children develop certain skills for living and how their morals form. Gibbs writes about how releasing children, after a long period of sitting in a school, to enjoy the summer, creates a much stronger person. The privacy and freedom given to them allows them to explore what is around them. It also allows them to make their own mistakes, but learn from them. As children enjoy whatever it is they like to do, they are learning crucial life skills. Gibbs explains as the summer goes by, if they grow physically or not, children will definitely grow mentally from the experiences.
On the other hand, the essay David Brooks wrote provides a different look upon a growing child. He believes that a child must always have something to do, unlike Gibbs who stated that boredom is also a learning time. Brooks suggests keeping children busy full time in activities “parents” think their children will like. The freedom and private way of learning has converted in Brooks’s essay to a way of keeping active. The coaches and team players around you become the teachers and mentors. But where’s the time to sit down and relax and learn? The two essays stand on opposite ends of the playing field. One supports a freedom way of learning, while the other supports an “always active” approach.