(Report) More American 8th Graders Taking Gap Year To Unwind And Regroup Before High School

LOS ANGELES- The Pew Research Center has revealed an alarming number of American 8th graders (roughly 21%) are opting to take a "gap" year before beginning high school.

The reasoning for this is believed to be overall burn out, stress and deep resentment of Common Core standards.

Would-be 9th grader Adrian Guarino from Hollywood High School in California has decided to take this gap year. He says, "I want to take this year off to travel. To find myself. I've been so run down and sluggish these past few months; I just really need a nice long break."

Norman Shlaken, from Pew, sees this as a positive trend. "If these kids keep this up, they may wind up learning valuable specialized skills, such as getting really good at riding their bike with no hands and a mouthful of Twizzlers.

It should be noted, however, that the decision to take a year off was driven mostly by money for a significant number of students. 12 months of extra allowance would provide significant financial breathing room once they began high school.