What company is your son in? Much depends on his training staff.
I'm currently a training sergeant for my company and I can say that's sort of true for us. The plebes are still definitely plebes and we're keeping them (very!) busy, but the focus is different than first semester. It's less of an indoc and more setting them up for success next year. By now, they should know their jobs and take care of them without any prodding from the upper-class, and if they don't the punishments are pretty steep.
When I was a plebe, there were a lot of opportunities that I never even knew I could take advantage of, opportunities I could have gotten a lot out of. It's a good thing when a training staff isn't focused on just harassing the plebes, but is also concerned with their development.