Do you remember the 30 minutes (sometimes twice a day) each school day that you got to spend outside running, playing, and using your imagination? I sure do. That's when we got to play chase, Red Rover, learn jump rope games, practice swinging as high as we possibly could, and hang upside down from the jungle gym.
Image by SeeMidTN.com (aka Brent) via FlickrAnd we got to talk to each other. Friendships were formed on the school playground that lasted longer than the school year. I certainly don't remember the volume or voracity of the talking then that I see go on in classrooms today. And I see fidgety kids today who desperately need to expend some energy outside! I remember going to school from 8:00 to 3:15 and we spent 30 minutes eating lunch and 30 minutes right after outside. Running. Playing hopscotch. Picking flowers. Making friends. Having fun and (shhhhhh) exercising! And we definitely didn't have the childhood obesity problems then that we have now.
There is an ongoing debate about what is causing the epidemic of childhood obesity, and what we need to do to solve it, but I see an extremely simple solution: increase recess time and encourage active play on the school playground.
Many schools today won't even let the kids run on the playground for fear of them getting hurt and suing the school. And they wonder why the kids won't sit still in their classrooms when they've only spent 10 minutes outside NOT running around!
For the past several years, in an attempt to increase class time to try and meet AYP, the kids in our district have been allowed only 15 minutes of recess *per day*. This time starts when they leave the cafeteria to walk to the playground and ends before the 15 minutes are up in order to get lined up for the teachers. Is that enough time to even divide up sides to play Red Rover? No, it's not! Add this on top of the fact that the kids aren't allowed to talk in the cafeteria during lunch, and we expect our children to be quiet and still, unless they are asking a question, for over 6 hours a day. I know I can't learn like that. Can you?
This shortening of recess time is an effort to increase class instruction time to assist bringing kids' standardized testing scores up to "proficient" or "advanced." But, while cutting back on recess may seem like a great way to add more learning time, a physical education research study has shown just the opposite: that physical activity actually gives a boost to attention and learning.
To add insult to injury, P.E. time is, in many cases, no longer solely devoted to physical education (a.k.a. exercise). Also in an attempt to improve test scores (for NCLB), many schools now require their P.E. teachers to incorporate writing and math into each of their class periods! So much for the Arkansas state legislature mandating increased time in P.E. class. So silly of the legislators to assume that time would be spent exercising.
While we could talk about how school lunches and fast food and video games and lack of playing out in the neighborhood have also contributed to the obesity epidemic, that's for another discussion.
Image by Getty Images via @daylifeThankfully, a backlash has finally begun. Parents are advocating for more recess time, and organizations and initiatives have sprung up to assist with this effort. Let's Move is one of those initiatives and it's the one that our First Lady, Michelle Obama, supports. Question(s) of the day: How does your school handle recess? Do you think recess is a vital part of the education process? And, if so, what do you think needs to be changed to improve exercise at school?
