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Longer recess time please! Elementary school aged children should have longer recess time in America because it provides better overall health. Many other countries allow children more play time during the school day and they found it makes them more attentive in the classroom afterwords. The American Academy of Pediatrics believe it’s crucial and necessary for children development. So why is America trying to cut back this time of play? Many schools are enforcing such standardized testing and want more time for academics instead of adding to recess time. The facts need to be revisited by the districts pushing against adding more time. Longer recess teaches children many proficiencies. It allows them to take risks while boosting their well-being.
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
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.
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
Sindelar, R. (2004). Recess: Is it needed in the 21st Century? Clearinghouse on Early Education and Parenting, Vol. 18, Issue 1, 1-6.
Council on School Health (2012). The Crucial Role of Recess in School. Pediatrics, 131, 182-189. doi: 10.1542/peds.2012-2993
Schools all over the country are considering, if not already applying, the removal of recess for elementary school students. Having recess has scientifically proven to play a substantial part in the social development of a child, their physical health, and the amount of attention they pay in the classroom. For example the Tennessee Board of Education says, "It is the position of the NASPE that all elementary school children should be provided with at least one daily period of recess of at least 20 minutes on length" (National Association for Sports and Physical Education). Keeping recess in schools could help lower the childhood obesity rate, help children to be more attentive in class, and assist in the development of their much needed social skills. These aspects are essential to academic healthiness and to your child succeeding academically. Removing recess could cause a dramatic decline in the graduation rate in the U.S.
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
These two opinions both have the student’s best interest in mind and are putting the children before their thoughts. They feel as though the need for children to be prosperous is essential. Longer school days states, ” The additional hours enable teachers to spend more time on each subject.” This half of the dispute believes that bonus time is beneficial to their academic enhancement. However, the opposite side of the discourse proclaims, ” Critics argue that extended school days could be too long for today’s busy kids.
I believe that this is a bad idea because kids mind can’t process all the information at once when they are not given a break and this could cause them to break down. This means that it can be unhealthy and they may not be able to keep up with all the information given to them at once. This is why students are currently given breaks to give their brain a break and spend time with family. “Extending the school day by even an hour or two will wreak havoc on after-school activities such as sports and dance lessons.” This means that extending the school day or year by just a little can effect after school activities and other things outside of school.
I strongly disagree with the Dickenson County School Board extending each school day by one and a half hours. I do not feel as if extending school hours will benefit students or staff. An extension of hours will cause students and staff to become more fatigued. Students and staff may not have enough time for socializing or other activities. Plus, regular school days contain enough hours already.
Break times and playtimes are ubiquitous in teaching institutions to include both primary and secondary schools. In other words, this is to say that in this setting of learning there are some set breaks meant for recreational purposes (Blatchford, 1998: 22). According to published studies, in the United Kingdom, breaks are expected to take place during the morning hours, short break, and others will take place after the lunch break and the afternoon break, longer breaks. During the break time, pupils and students have different experiences where they can evaluate their overall feelings about the school life. According to Lee (2014), ‘When kids are free to play on their own, they can use their imaginations. They can interact with each other and develop problem-solving skills, learn how to cooperate and share, develop empathy, and learn self control.’ Sadly, in some schools valuable break time has been reduced in favour of more academic pursuit within the classroom. The school playground becomes one of a few places where children can engage in free outdoor play with their friends.
...n, B., (2012) Yay for Recess: Pediatricians Say It’s as Important as Math or Reading, Available at: http://healthland.time.com/2012/12/31/yay-for-recess-pediatricians-say-its-as-important-as-math-or-reading/, (accessed: 05/01/14)
As the clock slowly ticks and all of the student’s are waiting for the day to be over; however, some kids still have 1-2 hours of school left. For those students who are still sitting in school, they may be getting taught a little more, it’s just harming our bodies and minds. While there has been a long disagreement about school being longer, it is my position that school days should not be lengthened. Some reasons for this include that it costs more, it gives students and teachers less time to do other activities, and student would not get as much sleep as necessary.
Schools need to be improved, but extending the school day is not the answer. First, schools should find a way to make improvements with the amount of time they already have. It’s not about the extended school hours it’s about what you do with the time you have in a normal day. Schools should maximize the time they already have in a normal school day.
Should We have Longer School days Why aren’t school days longer? A good question, but really, why? Well, it is because the current school day provides enough time for students to learn and socialize with just 6 hours. After school, most students have clubs, sports or even both, usually, they have time to get ready for those clubs and sports and maybe even do some homework before. But if the school day was extended, clubs and sports would get pushed later, students would be hard-pressed to find time to do homework, eat, and sleep.