How many of you had recess when you were in primary or elementary school? According to “The Benefits of Recess”, starting in the 1990’s, schools and legislators agreed that it was more important for a student to do well in their classes and on standardized testing based on their opinions, rather than listen to scientific evidence that proved differently. Children in school are prohibited from improving their academic, social, and physical wellness as well as their future because schools and politicians are more concerned about making money.
When I was in primary school before I was old enough to join a sports team or four, I never had recess when I was in school. My school day started at 8:00 and ended at 3:00. Physical Education was only once a semester and only took place once or twice a week, depending on what day in the rotation it was. As a result of a lack of physical exercise in school, I would come home from school, and as my mother termed it, “burn off steam”. This meant that I would go outside and ride my bike or walk my dog for an hour or so before working on homework.
Kids nowadays don’t have an opportunity to take a break from learning while they are school, which effects their academic, social, and physical purposes, as well as their future. Primary and elementary schools are too focused on meeting academic deadlines than they are about their students health.
In order to understand the four main reasons how recess affects a students health and future, we need to understand why schools no longer have recess. Schools are getting rid of recess to spend more time in the classroom. The biggest reason why is to meet academic achievements (Scholarpedia.org).
What this means is that schools are more concerned about meeting academic deadlines each year because in the instance of some schools, if the students as a grade as a whole reach a certain grade, they receive a certain amount of money from the state. In order to receive the most amount of money as possible, the school wants the students to do well. The school will also receive a certain amount of money is students do well on standardized tests, like the ACT, SAT, and PSAT/NMSQT. (Thompson)
From this paragraph alone, one could conclude that schools care more about money than they do about students. Based on this information and the information above about the four main reasons why students need recess, one would think that schools would allow children to take a 15 minute break everyday would actually help them do better, but they don’t.
Academic purpose— Taking a break between classes allows for students to retain and process information better as well as burn off energy to allow them to focus on their work (The Benefits of Recess). Social purpose— Allowing children to socialize freely – meaning there aren’t any adults instructing them, but they are nearby supervising – gizes them the opportunity to learn how to do things on their own such as develop their social skills (The Benefit of Recess).
Physical purpose— Not only does being outside and moving around help with staying physically fit, but it also encourages children to be active at home and to release stress in a healthy manner. In addition to being physically fit, children are also exposed to Vitamin D, a vitamin essential for bone growth in children (Denoon and The Benefit of Recess).
Their future– The phrase “I’m preparing you for the workforce” was often said by my teachers. But were they really? If you work for at least four hours, at least at my retail job, you have to take a 15 minute break. If you work eight hours, the average amount of time a student is in school, you have to take two 15 minute breaks, and a 30 minute meal break. It almost sounds like a retail job does a better job at taking care of it’s employee’s than a school does.
State the Solution: There are only two ways to solve the problem of giving kids a break in school and that is to give them a break in the morning and allow them to have recess when they have lunch. Break in the morning— A break in the morning, say somewhere around the second and fourth periods, can represent a 15 minute break while in a job. It will also allow children to process what they just learned and prepare them to learn more material later in the day.
Recess during or around lunchtime— Allowing children to play on a playground, something that’s been decreasing since the 1990’s, (The Benefits of Recess), will allow them to burn off energy and help with focus in upcoming classes. SIGNAL THE WRAP UP! Both of these solutions help develop social skills in children as well as benefit a student’s future as well as their physical well-being and academic learning.
Schools and politicians have a bigger concern about making money than they do about improving children’s academic, social, and physical wellness as well as their future. Studies have proven that children do better when they are given a break or have recess, but schools and politicians have decided to ignore these studies because of money. When children are given a break, they are able to focus better in class, improve their social skills, be physically fit, and prepare themselves for a future job.
As I was doing my research, I came across a book called, “The Art of Play” by Anna R. Beresin. In the book, Beresin describes how she and a group of students that attended the University of Philadelphia created an experiment on where they gave nine school toys for recess to see what the kids would do and how it affected their grades. The first step in four of these schools was to convince them to even have a recess, while four had to be convinced to stop using recess as a punishment or for enrichment. Beresin has a quote that summarizes why kids need recess.
“…there are a host of practices that are being reinvented during play; the practice of fine and large motor skills; the practice of balance; the practice of friendship; the practice of culture, and with it the practice of words, of singing, drawing, dancing, acting; the practice of design, of expansion and contraction; the practice of juxtaposition; the practice of practice.”
At the time that the study was conducted in 2010, 50 percent of Philadelphia’s children between the ages of 6-12 were overweight or obese. This is due to children moving less not only at home, but at school. Their parents had to walk to school, had some form of recess, and had toys that involved movement. Nowadays, kids take buses or cars to school, more than likely don’t have recess, and have electronic devices to keep them entertained.
While it might be a little strange for a bunch of college students to start protesting outside of the nearest elementary or primary school to give the students inside recess, what we can do is something we did two weeks ago, which is vote. Vote for the politicians that actually want to improve our education system, and not put money into their pockets.
References
- Beresin, A. R. (2014). The art of play: Recess and the practice of invention. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
- Breedlove, K. (2013). Recess’s Effects on Children’s Health & Wellness. Retrieved from https://www.aaastateofplay.com/recesss-effects-on-childrens-health-wellness/
- DeNoon, D. J. (2008). The Truth About Vitamin D: Why You Need Vitamin D. Retrieved from https://www.webmd.com/osteoporosis/features/the-truth-about-vitamin-d-why-you-need-vitamin-d
- Flannery, M. E. (2016, July 27). After Years of Cuts to Playtime, Parents and Educators Are Bringing Recess Back. Retrieved from http://neatoday.org/2016/07/14/bringing-recess-back/
- Pellegrini, A. D., & Bohn-Gettler, C. M. (2013). The Benefits of Recess in Primary School. Retrieved from http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/The_Benefits_of_Recess_in_Primary_School
- The Benefits of Recess. (2016, April 15). Retrieved from http://prowellness.vmhost.psu.edu/the-benefits-of-recess
- Thompson, V. (2018, September 27). Do Standardized Test Scores Factor in to How Much Money a School Will Receive? Retrieved from https://www.theclassroom.com/standardized-test-scores-factor-much-money-school-receive-25534.html
