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The elusive snow day: that rare glimmer of freedom that breaks up the humdrum of school. A day solidified in legend, whose traditions are like an unspoken code of childhood. A day, above all else, when possibilities abound.

And unfortunately for the hundreds of thousands of kids in New York City, a day that lay just out of grasp. A day mocking them as they look past their computer screens and out the window, at the millions of snowflakes turning their city into an enticing winter wonderland.

Didn’t you know? Snow days don’t exist in New York City. There’s no need for them. The technology implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic showed city officials that rather than letting the weather ruin a perfectly good school day, students could learn remotely. So, according to the snow day protocol instituted in the 2022-23 school year, Mayor Zohran Mandani sent his students to their computers Jan. 26 rather than to the park.

In fact, by the same year New York City implemented this protocol, 29 states had policies in place to replace a certain number of snow days with remote learning days. While 10 of these states only allow a maximum of five snow days for remote learning, others — including Michigan — do not specify a limit, leaving it up to districts. New York is among eight additional states that have provisions for unlimited remote learning days, abandoning the snow day altogether.

Remote learning wasn’t the most effective in 2020, and it still isn’t. A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that remote education generates poorer learning outcomes than in-person education, not to mention a plethora of mental health and behavioral effects in young children. Snow days, of course, have not been reported to have any of these effects.

Despite this, some credit can be given to the New York City Department of Education officials and others like them who believe themselves to be discarding snow days for the sake of education. Considering that technology isn’t going anywhere, it is good that kids understand how to use it in a place of work. For children with unstable home lives, it is understandable that public school systems might look to maintain the stability and structure of schooling by avoiding days off.

But childhood isn’t about efficiency, cramming in school days by any means possible. Schooling is not meant to mass-produce new generations of technologically adept, hardwired cyborgs who don’t know how to take a day off.

Rather, the classroom experience should inspire the creativity of young minds while still educating them in traditional areas and encouraging them to enjoy learning. Having a day off every once in a while to enjoy new snow can actually help do that. Hillsdale Academy understands this, as its students have enjoyed three snow days this winter.

As the rise in remote learning resulted directly from the events of 2020, Generation Z — its youngest members born in 2012 — represents the last cohort of students who were able to rely on snow days during their elementary education. Most in this generation were lucky to come of age before they could feel the influence of remote learning. The youngest Gen Z students are now in eighth grade; their Gen Alpha counterparts will have a much different experience during the winter months than they did.

The snow day is a rare but necessary glimmer of freedom. School requires attention and endurance which, even for students who love it, can be both boring and tiring. It seems unfair to young and developing minds to work them exhaustively — and furthermore, to force them to grow up so quickly. School systems should support kids being kids, and keeping snow days preserves some of the magic of childhood.

A healthy balance of work and play not only adheres to the old saying “everything in moderation,” but also allows kids an outlet to release their pent-up creative energy. And whatever fun the snow day brings may very well inspire good energy in classrooms upon returning to school. I recall many a school day following a snow day discussing escapades and adventures with teachers, friends, and classmates, relishing the opportunity to write stories about them.

That being said, the snow day is a day that should rightly be the stuff of childhood legend. The endearing nostalgia of a snow day has inspired many wonderful children’s books (for example, Ezra Jack Keats’ “The Snowy Day”), movie scenes (like that early scene in “It’s a Wonderful Life”), and family stories (too many to recall). These things all spark wonder and can also serve as great teaching tools — just as the occasional snow day sledding incident or snowball fight tragedy can.

Kids deserve snow days. Generations of children have enjoyed them and benefited from them, and so should those of today. Amidst the long and sometimes dreary weeks of attending school in the winter, the snow day is a magical blip — yes, a non-detrimental blip — on the radar.

Gianna Lodice is a sophomore studying history.