Should teens in the United Arab Emirates adopt the British custom of Essay

Should teens in the United Arab Emirates adopt the British custom of taking a gap-year or one year break from studying bet - Essay Example The United Arab Emiretes is one such country that is considering introducing the program in its education system. This follows the advantages associated with adopting the program as has been cited in countries where the program is a custom. Nevertheless, some skeptics have criticised the program arguing that it adds no good to the students and should not be adopted. Gap Years-United Arab Emirates Introduction The term â€Å"Gap Year† for a long time had been associated with the western and European countries, particularly the U.K. and the U.S.. â€Å"Gap Year† refers to the time duration in which high school students are allowed some time off from academic work before proceeding to colleges (Griffith, 2005). Griffith (2005) argues that gap year programs are mainly created to allow students to have fun, travel, participate in community services, as well as for personal growth. Britain is one among the countries in Europe that has adopted this custom within its education curriculum. Griffith (2005) points out that about 660,000 U.K. high school leavers take a Gap Year before proceeding to colleges. This custom has also been adopted in the U.S. as well, where students are being allowed to take a gap year before they can proceed to colleges. ... This paper will examines the reasons why teens in the United Arab Emirate (UAE) should adopt the Gap year custom of Britain. To begin with, Haigler and Nelson (2005) argue that learning about the world is one of the best forms of education that a child can get. However, teens can only learn more about the world if they can have some time to travel. Despite the fact that gap years are not designed for travelling, Haigler and Nelson (2005) reveal that a majority of teens who take gap years seize the chance to travel to foreign countries. This enables these teens to have a feeling of peculiar cultures, which acts as lessons as they discover new things that they would not have otherwise learnt if they did not get the opportunity to travel. Therefore, allowing UAE teens to take a gap year will be beneficial for their personal development in exploring different parts of the world and learning new cultures, which is very good experience. Griffith (2005) argues that people only live once. Th erefore, teens should be given sometime off to have fun and enjoy themselves. This can only become a reality in the UAE is teens are allowed to take a gap year before joining high school. This is because taking a gap year will give them the opportunity to travel, explore, adventure, and discover more about themselves. In fact, reports indicate that thousands of British school leavers use gap years to have fun. The gap year program needs to be adopted by the UAE because it will give the teens the opportunity to learn more about themselves. For instance, gap years will enable UAE teens who have grown up in a structured family with clearly defined goals be it academic, sports, or athletics to be free to assess themselves.