Chipping in here with a bit of support for flanner (whom I have met, and found to be a most interesting and very nice person).

After reading numerous trip reports on this forum, it is interesting to note that many posters consider 'people-watching' while sitting in cafes etc when in foreign cities an enjoyable pastime.

People-watching = noticing things about people, whether it is what they wear, how they speak, family groups, women being pregnant (as mentioned above) and so on. Come on, who hasn't ever watched other people?

All flanner has done - in the company of Mrs Flanner - is notice the preponderance of American teenagers (though more girls than boys) and asked a perfectly sensible question about parents taking teens out of school to travel.

I often have a go at flanner which is most likely what he wants. If you care to look at his posts, most have borderline irrational comments about Americans.

This post was mild by comparison. So mild I read it several times looking for a hidden sting.

I didn't answer because the obvious answer, longer US summer school vacations due to shorter and fewer term breaks, had already been given.

I'm very pleased to hear he is a different person in "real life."

Middle aged men listening to the conversations of under aged girls is the leading cause of karate lessons, sales of mace, and whistles on key chains. There is difference between observations and getting close enough to be within earshot.

I live in NY and from the middle of April to the end of May, the City is filled with school trips.

But some very exclusive and overly ambitious public high schools offer school trips abroad.

This is what I wrote.
I wrote that in Most parts of the USA schools let out the first of June.Not June 1st.

I also mentioned that is if no snow and ice days.

I have 3 children and only rarely(due to snow days) did they ever go past the 7th.

They are now 30,26,and 22.
I consider anything before the 10th the first part of June.

NyTraveler
It does have to do with snow.If kids miss a week for snow they have to make it up at the end.
Also I think you know the the difference between June 1st and the first of June.

The kids here have been out since June 4th.But that is the first of June.

Here on the other side of the Atlantic, where dates are dd-mm-yy the first of June would always be June 1st, or 1st June as we say.

There is difference between observations and getting close enough to be within earshot."

Unfortunately many Americans habitually speak so loudly that you have to be a good distance away NOT to overhear.
___________

And what do they scream, "I'm 14 and my American school is over for the summer."

And, of course, that is not a stereotype any way.

Yes but it common for people to say "We are planning a trip to Italy the first of may" or "We are planning a trip to the south of France the last week of July. Will it be to hot?"

I've seen it on this very board many times.
I used first of June because it covers the first 10 days of June.
The kids here were out June 4th.The next county over it May have been the 8th and so on.

It is rare for kids to go to school past June 10th in the middle and southern states.

OK a question : what is the difference between June 1st and the first of June ?

To a European like me... there's no difference at all....

To a U.S. person like me, June 1st and first of June are the same. I have never heard of first of June when referring to the first 10 days of June as SaylerT says. Maybe it is a regional thing.

Back to OP: Suspect dollar-Euro is big part of numbers. At one time, I would have said perhaps more boys are busy with some summer sports (baseball, especially) and are not traveling, but that is probably not the case now. Maybe teen boys are reluctant travelers. Maybe the boys are not wearing backwards baseball caps any more and just blending in better?!

I grew up in England, but I have lived in the US for decades, and I have never heard "first of" a month used to mean the first week or ten days of a month. Perhaps this is a regional peculiarity. It certainly makes no sense to me.

Personally, I always use calends. The rent is due on the calends.

Sorry SaylerT, it was your own words that got you misunderstood. Not clear at all what you meant. 1st of June means exactly that unless you care to use a modifier like first half or first part. Maybe it was just a typo, but it obviously read clearly in a way you did not mean. And attacking other posters is not making you look any better.

I like calends. Most of the rest is incredibly stupid and borders on libel.

Curious about the OP my phone added the rest of the letters to opportunity.
Yes social traveler I am old and My new phone keeps adding capital letters and words.

I will use my computer from now on.

Just curious.. why hasn't Fodor's started a "Virtual Hall of Fame" for the most unbelievable threads yet?

Next time anyone asks me why there are underage kids (with their parents) at beer gardens or in pubs in Germany, I know that I can call him/her a pervert.

Thanks for raising the tone Cowboy ;)

Cowboy !! ;)

My data:
US American, live in the Northeast (inland, though), former school teacher, mother of girls...

In the Northeast, US public (aka "municipal") schools are out sometime in June. In my childhood, the FIRST of June (yes, we used this term ONLY to mean DAY ONE of June, not week)or whatever date was close was usually our end date.

That end date has changed as the school year has overall increased.

There are two reasons for the change in end date:
1) An increase in professional days for teachers
2) An addition of a "Spring Break", non-existent in my childhood.

These extensions have been balanced by an earlier start date. In my childhood, no school started before the Labor Day holiday (the first Monday in September). Now many start not only by the last week but even by the 3rd week of August.

Most NE schools are finished by the FIRST week of June UNLESS there are "Snow Days". If so, then the SECOND week of June contains the end date. And in the Northeast this year, there were a lot of snow days.

If there have been teacher strikes, we are talking a whole other ballgame.

But...

Graduating seniors get out earlier. Ergo, parents plan graduating senior trips earlier.

Girls vs boys? The only thing I can say is that if the guys play baseball, their seasons NEVER seem to end. Otherwise, I do not have a clue unless teenage girls have a longing for Rome. I'm thinking more girls long for Paris :) plus...

In my kids' high school, 51% of the girls played sports vs 47% of the boys (go girls!).

are you against it?
the more girls the better place)