New Recess Bill marches through state legislature
Please stop blaming local School Boards, legislation created the problem
For the last several legislative sessions, groups of parents around the state have asked state legislators to pass new laws to mandate “unrestricted recess time” for elementary students. It was just a few years back that the state legislature passed laws that mandated “structured physical activity time” for every elementary student.
This 2017 Florida legislative session elementary recess continues to be an issue with these parents. This year Senator Anitere Flores sponsored SB 78: ‘Public School Recess’.
SB 78 would add the following language to Florida law:
“Each district school board shall provide at least 100 minutes of supervised, safe, and unstructured free-play recess each week for students in kindergarten through grade 5 so that there are at least 20 consecutive minutes of free-play recess per day.”
The Tampa Bay Times has reported that the bill’s sponsor Sen. Flores stated,
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But what is frustrating about this issue is that local school boards, districts and schools did not create this problem. It was the legislature that passed laws to tell local school boards, districts and schools that we couldn’t have the age old “free play” recess time but must have “structured physical activity time” for elementary students.
In Citrus County Schools our administrators have tried to apply common sense and balance to these laws. Our elementary schools typically provide recess “free play” time for students daily except for the one week out of four or five when students have on the “wheel” Physical Education class. The “wheel” as it is often referred to in schools is a rotating period of the day when students have for a week music, P.E., art, media and technology. Then the next week students rotate to a different area. This permits our students to be exposed to these essential areas of
I picked this article because it used a school that was actually allowing time for recess, but it was not being utilized by a large number of the students. These results help prove that an effort for inclusion still has to be made. Only providing soccer does not give everyone an equal opportunity to
Does year-round school truly have a positive impact in the lives of students? Various studies have suggested that year round school is helpful. There are some disadvantages to this type of schooling that are preventing all schools from switching to this type of scheduling. In earlier times schools were only teaching throughout half of the year so that the school would be out of session when it was time to work in the fields. This type of scheduling is still common today, even though only a small portion of agriculture is tied into education and kids are no longer required to work. “In 1994, the National Education Commission on Time and Learning (1994) urged school districts to develop school calendars that acknowledged (a) differences in
These are just some key points I would touch when trying to promote recess to school administrators or a school board. Recess is very important to our children and I think taking it out of their day to day routine will hurt them in the end.
Results show that children spent more time active during break rather than in PE lessons. This shows that PE lessons are not fulfilling their aim to promote an active lifestyle. However, there are barriers to teaching PE for students with disabilities such as amount of space and facilities needed which can affect the amount of time they spent participating and engaging in lessons. So this article does not reflect on schools that are not SEN as children who do not have disabilities may find it easier to participate and engage in lessons, therefore increasing activity time.
Sindelar, R. (2004). Recess: Is it needed in the 21st Century? Clearinghouse on Early Education and Parenting, Vol. 18, Issue 1, 1-6.
Ah recess, the highlight of the elementary school days, no work to do, just running around outside, but did it really benefit us? Many people across the world are against recess because they believe it takes time away from learning. In addition, some parents value the education more than letting their kids have a break during school, which leads them to believe that recess is no good. What they don’t know is that recess actually benefits their kids. Kids should have recess because it helps them build social skills, reset their brains for future information to be learned in the day, and improve their mental function through regular fitness.
Recess holds great potential for promoting positive playground and school experiences among children. According to Pellegrini and Glickman, “Recess is one of
Covering all, we should revise the rules of Fort Bend ISD and change it. Having a sport in a school is a privilegeto one because some don’t due to the lack of money.It’s important for many students: it can help students in future possibilities such as athletics and their character. Knowing sports can change a person physically and mentally by making them smart, respectful, and healthier. Being in an after school activity is rewarding experience to all the students who are going to dedicated and focused on school and in the activity. Finally, student will be rewarded after school after the hard work throughout the day. Sports can influence students in many ways like character, making better graders, and lack of obesity. Fort Bend ISD should allow sixth graders to participate in physical activates: sixth graders would be satisfied.
20 Nov. 2011.. National Association for Sports and Physical Education. “Recess for Elementary School Students.” Tn. Govt.
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,
Caralee Adams, reported to Scholastic.com, “About 11 percent of states and 57 percent of districts require elementary schools to provide students with regularly scheduled recess, a study by the Centers for Disease Controls, in 2006.” As far back as 1884, W.T. Harris, addressed students being overweight, could be reduced with physical needs, be saved by recess. On the other hand, those who do not think recess is beneficial, argue that recess is a waste of time in the school day. Recess should be allowed in all schools because physical health and concentration benefits to kids.
Ping! The sound of a baseball bat rings through the school’s campus. Little do the boys playing baseball know, they are learning important skills while playing ball with their friends. Unfortunately, at the same time they are learning baseball skills, the could be harming their bodies. Students-athletes could be earning friends or earning trips to the hospital. There are positives and negatives to playing on a school sports team.
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
Kids would have no other choice but to eat the food that is set before them. However, there are various ways for a kid to get the credit for Physical Education in today’s schools; ROTC, Dance, even Marching Band. Many would argue that those are not the equivalent to playing a sport such as Football, Soccer, Basketball, or Powerlifting and they would be right. These requirements need to be altered so that it is fair and beneficial to all students. I believe that most students at a young age should be involved inside of a sport, if not they will write it off as them not being as athletic as other kids and will turn to sitting on the couch. Instead they need to force kids to be in some type of sport at a young age and force them to get involved and stay active. Most American Parents would say “But why must my kid be forced to play a sport that he hates all of his life?” as a Rebuttal. This solution isn’t permanent. This is simply to get kids up and involved at a young age and keep them active. If they truly do not like the sports that are available, in the high schools a basic Physical Education course should be offered. One that actually gets the kids up and active. I’ve seen too many PE classes with kids just walking around a gym. They need to be up playing dodgeball, running, and playing catch otherwise it is meaningless. As Michelle Obama, Current First Lady and Dean of dean
Opposition of mandatory Physical Education in high schools believe that if a student has not developed a desire for voluntary physical exercise by the time he or she reaches high school , he or she may not ever (Eberhardt). It is true that individuals should not be forced into something they don’t want to participate in, but if these students don’t get any exercise outside of school, where will they receive an appropriate amount of fitness? Paul Eberhardt, athletic director, intramural director and head coach of the McNair Marlins basketball team in Richmond, B.C., believes “that students don’t care about participating in P.E. anymore and we have to educate students on the benefits of Physical Education”. In the 1994-1995 school year there were 1,133 students enrolled at McNair High School but there were only four P.E. classes available, which meant approximately 120 students attended in these classes. The remaining 1013 grade eleven and twelve students had no Physical Education at all. This is an astonishing figure. “Many students participate in sports and recreation activities outside of school, but most of them get hardly any exercise at all.