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,” …show more content…
For example, a school in New York State has come up with a compromise to both the school systems and the students. Instead of getting rid of recess as a whole, they have gotten rid of some equipment and games that teachers and administrators labeled unsafe or dangerous. Kelly Wallace added that the school no longer allowed “footballs, baseballs, soccer balls, lacrosse balls and any other hardballs that could injure a child. Also off limits: rough games of tag and cartwheels unless an adult supervisor is on hand” (2013, para. 3). Although this severe restriction on equipment may inhibit many of the enjoyable games the children enjoy to play, it is just a small change in relation to taking away their time all together. However, according to an interviewee, Virginia Postrel, from the New York Post, “Studies suggest bans on ‘rough-and-tumble play’ deny kids the very experience they need to master peaceful social interactions” (Post Editorial Board, 2015, para. 6). That would imply that by doing these more “dangerous” activities on the playground are actually necessary to building good social skills for the …show more content…
For many school districts, the problem is that there is much crime happening in the cities surrounding the school and recess outdoors is not an option. Even though it may not be the most-wanted choice of children, but letting the students have free time indoors is better than no time at all. Another way that can aid in the parents that are worried with the bullying that happens on the playground is have educated teachers. Supervision can be a very hard thing to do when you only have one teacher in a room full of 20 children. It is easy to miss something that happens on the opposite side of the playground. The teacher should constantly be aware of all surroundings, but also realize that she can’t catch everything that goes on. The parents also need to realize that children can’t constantly be fully supervised and that even the most observant teacher can miss small things. Something that many schools are doing to help with the supervision is implementing a “Recess Monitor” to supervise the students while they are out on the playground. This would help the problem with safety concerns, bullying, the supervision problem, and still allow the kids to have fun (Thorpe, 2014). No matter what the problem that occurs in the school system, the administrators and educators still need to make sure that these kids are getting the right amount of free time necessary to make sure that they get the right
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.
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,
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).
Keeping recess in schools has both its pros and cons. Along with the positive things presented by keeping recess there are also the things that prove to be negatives. One problem presented by keeping recess is that class time is cut shorter. Instructors are pressed to teach the lessons in a shorter amount of time. "Schools began cutting back recess in the late 1980's to allow more instructional time" (Jarret). Shorter instruction time means less time for the teachers to reiterate what has been taught that day. Another problem with recess is that if not properly supervised children can injure themselves or one another. Also, some children get bullied while on the playground.
According to American Academy of Pediatrics, they believe that a child needs a scheduled recess at school daily because of its effects on children. Recently, schools have cutting down on recess time because of poor grades and standards are rising. What they don't know is that a child needs a break from work like everyone else does. Schools should include recess in Middle school and High school because it helps lower obesity, lower stress, and develop social skills .
wouldn't student get tired and not pay attention. and doesn't recess hinder growth and maternity and i'm here to say NO! If students have recess during connect they could choose to go to recess or stay and work on due or late assignments or if a student doesn't have all there due work turned in they don't get recess. This way it won't affect learning. Did you know that recess could actually make kids less tired? If kids get recess they get less tired because they get more tolerant to tiredness which will help them in class. And you might say recess hinders growth and maturity it actually helps growth a quote from the icpa states that Everyone benefits from a break. Research dating back to the late 1800s indicates that people learn better and faster when their efforts are distributed, rather than concentrated. That is, work that includes breaks and down time proves more effective than working in long stretches. Because young children don’t tend to process information as effectively as older children (due to the immaturity of their nervous systems and their lack of experience), they benefit the most from taking a break for unstructured
By monitoring where bullying occurs and making sure that they are safe for a student can be extremely helpful. Lawner and Terzian identify that bullying happens where adults aren 't watching and call these places “hotspots”. They say “Research suggests that much bullying behavior occurs in “hotspots”— areas with low levels of adult supervision, such as a playground, bus, or cafeteria.” This only proves that bullying happens everyday usually at the same area, yet no one is there to see or help. Adding supervision by placing adults in areas like this would decrease the issue in that children are being watched causing the victim to feel safe and the bully intimidated. Since bullying is being turned to online, administrators should have the right with permission from the victim to see what the bully is posting on there page. Bullies usually have more than one victim and administrators being able to access the bullies internet pages so that they could identify more easily who they are attacking. Although I stress the importance of supervision, it is important to also make children feel a sense of freedom and by adding too much supervision school can quickly turn into a prison style monitoring
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.
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.
In high school we no longer got a legit recess. The best thing we get are 15 minute breaks to socialize and prepare for our next class. Recess means next to nothing to me, but I will never forget the good old days of having a half an hour of being able to do whatever you wanted on the playground. Recess is just like any other word now. Recess to me reminds me of freedom, although we get more privileges in high school, we don't get to have the time of our lives
American Psychological Association’s Stress in America found that teens are the most stressful age group in the United States. Teens face stressful situation everyday in school and it carries throughout the whole day. A successful way to relieve of stress is the take a break, and recess can be that solution. Taking 15 to 30 minutes a day for recess would change students’ attitudes academically, mentally, and physically guaranteeing a brighter student who is ready to learn.
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
While peer bullying can happen anywhere within the school, elementary school students report being less safe out on the playground. Students feel less safe on the playground due to the lack of supervision outside t...