Sound Off is a series of personal essays about education written by educators, parents, students, and community members.

In about a week or so, students are going to be returning to school from their Christmas break. We have become accustomed to this much-needed break. Teachers and students alike look forward to winter break, maybe even more so than summer break, as summer break does not typically come with presents. Winter break has ingrained itself in our lives and pop culture as a whole. As we speak, teachers are lazily preparing the ‘What did you do over Christmas break?’ assignment. Don’t do that.

I know that at some point, we all have been asked to talk about or write about what we got for Christmas or did over the break. You probably didn’t think it was that big of a deal. Many of us likely remember it fondly. However, many of us do not, and those of us who do often forget that.

There are many reasons not to assign generalized assignments about Christmas break, starting with the most obvious: Not everyone celebrates Christmas. Most of us know this but act as if everyone does until explicitly told otherwise. (You probably didn’t even notice me using the terms ‘Christmas break’ and ‘winter break’ interchangeably.) The problem with waiting for a kid to tell you they don’t celebrate Christmas is that many of them won’t. Many students have stories about how they simply learned to celebrate the secular aspects of Christmas due to the constant social pressure around it.

Not everyone is going to have a winter break experience they want to talk about. It may be a fun time where you get together with all of your family and exchange presents. For many students, it’s a lonely time when they are away from their friends and even missing meals because they don’t get the two daily meals they have become accustomed to in school. It goes without saying that not everyone has presents waiting under the tree… But even those who do shouldn’t be thrust into an impromptu contest over presents. I remember being really excited about getting my new CD player one year until a teacher asked us to share what we got for Christmas, and I discovered my friend got the latest next-generation console.

We have become accustomed to the idea that students will be uncomfortable sometimes in schools. Not every assignment is going to make everyone feel great. But it isn’t a lesson about the Holocaust. Asking students to reflect and share about their break is completely unnecessary and adds basically nothing to the class.

Don’t do it. Just don’t.