Hey Teacher, leave recess alone!
In her Huffington Post blog article titled Here’s One Way to Wreck a Child’s Education: Take Away Recess, Haley Krischer takes an emboldened stand against the practice of eliminating recess; which is often done as a punishment or to make more time for instructional learning. I stand in agreement with Krischer. I do not agree with schools taking away recess for any reason with the exception of dangerous weather or environmental circumstances. Yet, research indicates how common the 86-ing of recess is occurring in schools. A study by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (2010) revealed 77% of school Principals reported taking away recess as a punishment, and 81.5% of schools allow students to be excluded from recess. Krischer begins the article by introducing her 9 year old son and his affinity for recess: “the only subject he will talk about”. She gives examples of how recess benefits her son such as other students who help him troubleshoot technology issues and challenging him to improve his sports skills. Indeed, the unstructured playtime allows children to explore their environment and develop new ideas and understandings of it and those within it (American Pediatric Association, 2013). Kischer also expressed that children need active play to combat restlessness and that this is especially important for children who may suffer from ADHD, noting that taking away recess as a punishment for misbehavior may be counterproductive and result in increased behavioral problems. A longitudinal study that followed over 10,000 students between the ages of 8 and 9 concluded that student recess of at least 15 minutes resulted in better behavior as rated by teachers (Samuels, 2009).
Case studies of boys with at...
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...er, H. Here's One Way to Wreck a Child's Education: Take Away Recess . 2013. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/hayley-krischer/heres-one-way-to-wreck-a-childs-education-take-away-recess_b_4149596.html
National Organization for Sport and Physical Education (2006). POSITION STATEMENT. Retrieved from http://www.aahperd.org/naspe/standards/upload/recess-for-elementary-school-students-2006.pdf
Ridgeway,A., Northup, J., Pellegrin, A.,LaRue, R., & Hightshoe, A. (2003). Effects of Recess on the Classroom Behavior of Children With and Without Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. School Psychology Quarterly, 18(3), 253.
Robert Johnson Wood Foundation (2010). State of Play. Retrieved from FENTON communications website: http://www.playworks.org/sites/default/files/d6/StateOfPlayFeb2010.pdf
Samuels, C. A. (2009). RECESS AND BEHAVIOR. Education Week, 28(20), 4.
With an increasing demand for higher standardized testing scores, schools are finding themselves in a tough position. The huge question being asked is how do we create more time for students to learn common core. The simple answer is, we don’t! Incorporating more time for recess is the key to success for students everywhere. Many researchers and educators alike agree that participating in recess increases students’ cognitive, academic, and social skills. The amount of time allotted for recess should be increased for students of all ages. A child’s well-being encompasses more than just academia. Children spend almost eight hours a day at school, sometimes more. The school system and
"I believe quite strongly that there is great value in play. Play is learning lessons that often can't be learned anyplace else.’’1 An unknown middle schooler. Dr. Barros decided to conduct the study after observing a young patient's classroom--to see how antsy the student and his peers were by lunchtime.”They were given no work breaks, save for 15 minutes of quiet snacking at their desks.they were so drowsy”.
Department of Health, A. H. S. (n.d.). A look at attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Retrieved from
In the “The Crucial Role of Recess in School” (2012) article it explains, many schools are beginning to replace physical activity, like recess, with more attention to academic subjects. What these schools are forgetting is that well-supervised recess also has benefits that surpass academics. They help make a well rounded student because recess offers cognitive, social, emotional, and physical benefits to the student when they are young that they carry with them into adulthood.
The recess project has become a well renowned program. The recess project's goal is to advocate structured play among today’s children. “Recess leaders help the older children on the playground become leaders themselves, guiding younger children as they learn how to juggle or make crafts or do Zumba, the dance like exercise regimen set to fast-paced music”(Paul Par 5) . This is important because recess leaders from the recess project felt the need to help the older children on the playground. Recess leaders proved that with guidance and structure the older children gain the responsibility to guide the younger children in complex activities. Structured play drives strategy and following directions because with structured play children are given a specific set of guidelines and rules. After receiving rules and guidelines it is then up to the child to go from there and play(Nelson Par 1). There are numerous activities involved with structured play. The varying activities teach children how to follow and understand directions. This also helps children complete tasks. Various structured activities include board games, puzzles, and arts and crafts(Nelson Par 3). Anyone who has ever dealt with a child or children know things may become very messy, what if there was a way children can be taught life skills such as cleaning? In fact that is what structured play can do. As children are
Sindelar, R. (2004). Recess: Is it needed in the 21st Century? Clearinghouse on Early Education and Parenting, Vol. 18, Issue 1, 1-6.
20 Nov. 2011. Jarret, Olga S., and Sandra Waite-Stupiansky. “ Recess- It’s Indispensible.” National Association.
Are teachers enforcing discipline mechanisms in a healthy way for children? Researchers would answer no to this question because of one major factor: removing recess from a child’s school day. In Jessica Lahey’s article, “Students Who Lose Recess Are the Ones Who Need It Most”, she states that “schools continue to take away recess privileges as a penalty for academic or behavioral transgressions”. Many teachers follow this procedure because they assume that they are teaching the child how to act with appropriate behaviors. However, it is a proven fact that eliminating a student’s recess results in a negative outcome. Therefore, recess should not be removed from a child’s school day because this recreation plays a role in their physical health,
“More than 40 percent of school districts across the country, … have done away with recess or are considering it” (Mulrine). This is a ridiculously high number when considering all the benefits that recess has on young children. Children develop and improve so many basic skills, as well as just simply getting a brain break. Educators, however, believe they need more time in the classroom in order to learn more information. What they need may be just the opposite. Researchers of Albert Einstein College of Medicine have found, “ ‘Recess may play an important role in the learning, social development, and the health of children’ “ (“Let Them Play”). Specifically, fourth grade students and younger should be required
Why Not to skip class Skipping class is not a good decision to make. One reason for this is that you might miss something and get a bad grade because you missed something. Another reason is that it does not look good when colleges look at it. Last reason is that teachers won’t trust you as much.
I think the school day is fine as it is, school board members should not add another hour. Another hour would take away time for children to do things outside of school. Some kids get tired on eight hour school days so another hour might be worse. Kids already have troubles paying attention for eight hours, so they probably would have more trouble for nine hours. Another hour would take time away for children to do things outside of school.
There are many people that may view recess and a burden to the educators. There are professionals that believe that is not necessary and trying to get rid of their free time. Much of the argument being presented is the absence of a safe environment for the students to freely play. A rise of parent’s believing that it is a danger zone and the place for bullying to take place. Parents and supervisors are under the impression that recess is only a “chunk of unstructured social time in the middle of the day” (Brown, 2013, para. 2). Emma Brown asked Steve Brown, who is a parent of three daughters, his opinion on the matter. He states “Teachers should be teaching. Students should be learning” (para. 2). Although many times recess is considered “unstructured,”
Sindelar,R., (2002) Recess: Is It Needed in the 21st Century? Available at: http://ecap.crc.illinois.edu/poptopics/recess.html, (accessed: 08/01/14)
Examining these categories one at a time, first there is social development; recess give children the opportunity to interact with their peers in a different way from typical classroom interactions. Recess provides opportunities to develop an enormous range of social skills including, sharing, cooperation and communication. Interacting with friends and classmates in this environment is also an excellent way to practice good behaviors such as, respecting the rules and improving self-discipline. Second there is emotional development; according the Journal of Pediatric Health Care: “Recess may act as an outlet for reducing anxiety and serve as a means by which children
Dropouts in school have been an important topic in education since the number of students that are dropping out has been increasing over the years. There is more than one reason students decide to leave school before graduating from high school. In the Gate Foundation report, they do a survey to investigate the main reasons of why students of age 16-25 years old drop out of high school. According to the Gate Foundation report, they are five main reasons why students are dropping out of school. Almost half of the students in the survey responded that one of the major reasons of dropping out of high school was because classes were not interesting or boring. It is true that if a person does not feel interested of learning something, then it can