Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
the effects of recess in school
the effects of recess in school
the effects of recess in school
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: the effects of recess in school
Why Recess?
Recess has been one of the biggest debates of all time. Some wonder if their children are getting enough time on the playground, and others may think they are getting just enough. However, recess is crucial to a child’s development. Allowing for more time at recess in the schools is beneficial for the student’s well being. Students are more likely to have increased social skills, wellness, and focus. Not only is recess cognitively beneficial, but also physically beneficial. Exercise is healthy, and recess is the best time to go out and move around. Social Benefits
Recess holds great potential for promoting positive playground and school experiences among children. According to Pellegrini and Glickman, “Recess is one of
…show more content…
Movement and physical exercise is key to a child’s life, especially in developing necessary skills to function throughout their whole life. Recess can be a time where children are able to explore how their bodies can function. Student’s can learn and apply skills like bouncing, throwing, catching, running, skipping, and the list may keep going on. Research has even shown that children who are more physically active in school are more likely to be physically active at home. Children who don’t have the opportunity to be active during the school day don’t usually compensate during after-school hours.
Also, many children suffer from obesity, and being outdoors is the best way to burn those calories. Since 1980, the childhood obesity rates from ages two to nineteen have tripled — with the rates of obese six to eleven-year-olds more than doubling (from seven percent to seventeen and a half percent) and rates of obese teens from ages twelve to nineteen quadrupling from five percent to twenty percent. (NHANES, 2011-2014 data) Children need to be more active, and by reducing recess this is not assisting the obesity epidemic. Physical activity simply feeds the
the ICPA also stats that The outdoors is the best place for children to burn calories, practice emerging physical skills and experience the pure joy of movement. Research has even shown that children who are physically active in school are more likely to be physically active at home, and children who don’t have the opportunity to be active during the school day don’t usually compensate during after-school hours. This will also help the students to feel more energized because the more your body works the more energy you will produce meaning students won't be so tired. Children get one quarter of gym and 3 quarters of band art and computer where you sit in a chair most of the time. And Recess can help children make friend
Sindelar, R. (2004). Recess: Is it needed in the 21st Century? Clearinghouse on Early Education and Parenting, Vol. 18, Issue 1, 1-6.
Children can burn off bottled up energy at recess that they have accumulated while sitting through their teacher’s lessons. Lahey mentions that “studies have found that students who enjoy the benefit of recess are more attentive once they return to class”. This is helpful because the child will be focused on what they are learning instead of fidgeting in their chair. Also, providing breaks to students while they are learning can result in longer attention spans. Recess is a break that recharges the brain and allows elementary students to control their desire to adventure. Young children are easily distracted, so recess regulates this by providing them with their own free time. Students become more self-contained after they return from recess due to their tiredness. This is useful in class because children will be less hyperactive. The absence of recess would not permit students to learn self-control
With the expansion in technology, children are hastily becoming more and more inactive. In the past century, kids would play outside from sunrise to sunset. Little did they realize, that playtime served as great daily exercise. Physical activity is a key necessity in keeping a healthy lifestyle. With the advancement of technology and the growing popularity of video games and television, fewer children are getting exercise. Stationary activities, such as video games and watching T.V., are keeping children inside and away from exercise. To blame just the kids for this lack of exercise would be wrong. The parents are the ones responsible for giving the children these games, but that is not all bad. Where it does turn bad however, is when the kids are given these games or televisions without a time restraint. Through research, they have found that 26% of children watch television for more than four hours a day. In efforts to encourage outside playtime for kids, Nickelodeon shut down programming daily from noon to 3pm. This seemed to be a great idea, but does it really help? Children are in school session Monday through Friday from 8am 3pm. The time Nickelodeon chose to go dark is the same time child...
Generally, preschoolers mainly engage in physical activity with other children (“Preschoolers at play”). Teachers encourage this by helping children plan roles, encouraging to talk to peers, and posing open ended questions since physical play is significant to the development of children (Rice 2). According to the Child Development Institute, physical play helps a child develop connections between the nerve cells and the brain (Wonderly 1). As these connections develop, a child’s fine and gross motor skills are improved (Wonderly 1). According to the North Carolina Child Care Health and Safety Resource Center, “All children birth to age five as well as school age children should engage in daily physical activity that promotes health-related fitness and movement skills” (Wonderly 2). This is due to the fact that physical activity is significant to children and their development because the process of physical development starts in human infancy and the peak of physical development happens in childhood (Thomas 1). It is a crucial time from infancy to late adolescence for neurological brain development and body coordination (Thomas 1). This is a time where gross and fine
Some people might say that middle schoolers shouldn’t have recess, but, middle schooler don’t always have gym, and they don’t get enough exercise, so recess would be beneficial to middle schoolers.
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
Council on School Health (2012). The Crucial Role of Recess in School. Pediatrics, 131, 182-189. doi: 10.1542/peds.2012-2993
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).
Having recess can help lower obesity/ weight loss. Physical movements at recess can help lower obesity. According to AAP students should play outside for 60 minutes each day to stay healthy. By doing this every day each child will be Physically fit and active. So by raising recess
Hobbs’ article, “Dallas ISD trustee pushes mandatory recess in elementary schools,” he explains the major advantages that come along with recess. It has become more common for schools to take away recess. The reason being is either that they use this extra time for academics, or they take it away as a punishment. He added, “Numerous studies have discussed the importance of recess in improving social and emotional health and learning”(Hobbs.) Recess is a vital part of a child’s day. Although recess has been a traditional practice in elementary schools, many schools around the United States are starting to reduce or completely take this time away from the kids. Recess contributes many positive attributes to a child’s growth physically and mentally. It challenges not only their social skills, but also their physical kids. It allows them to gain confidence in making friends. It also allows them to get the proper exercise needed
Eveline Van Cauwenberghe, Rachel A Jones, Trina Hinkley, David Crawford, and Anthony D Okely: Patterns Of Physical Activity And Sedentary Behavior In Preschool Children. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. 2012; 9;(1)138. EBSCO Host Database. Publish 2012. Cited 2014 April 5. 1p. Available From: http://www.ijbnpa.org/content/9/1/138; doi:10.1186/1479-5868-9-138
It has been proven that recess increases on-task time. Research has shown that when they study 43 kids that had recess that day, they were more on-task and less fidgety. Some people think that kids need recess to function and others think that it doesn’t help and if anything, they could get injuries. Kids do deserve to have recess at school because it gives kids a brain break and it can keep kids healthy.
...thout recess, children are denied elements for social development. Physical education classes, or P.E., are the higher grades’ version of recess. At this level, juveniles engage in a more structured program with specific objectives. In Education Digest, Ann Rosewater from Team Up for Youth reflects on how organized sports are a bridge to adult achievements. Her report on the impact of organized sports exclaims “participation in physical activities have long term positive effects”. (Par 7) Details assert juveniles “connect with positive peer groups and provide the experience of failing yet trying again”. (Par 8, 9)
However, despite the unquestionable link to a brighter future for the children who engage in it, less and less time is being allotted for play in the classrooms. As standards for what children are expected to know at younger and younger ages continues to rise along with the demand for standardized testing from the state, time for play is being sacrificed. Adults are choosing to get rid of time for unstructured play and recess to make time for this new testing interfering with the time allotted for children to learn independently through play. Cutting play and recess is a mistake, and here is why: “recess gives students time for social interactions: for students must be able to initiate, negotiate, cooperate, share, and build relationships with one another--skills that are highly valued in the adult world but that often are quite different from work or play under adult supervision and control” (Chang). Those skills learned through play, are often not the sole purpose of a classroom lesson and could potentially be the only place they learn those needed skills. Play is an affective measurement in the classroom as well as outside of the classroom and children can learn so much from it if only given the chance