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Listen to thisChildren were scampering over the climbing apparatus, some of them shinnying down a pole, others crawling in a tunnel, Two were having a catch. Under the basketball hoop, several were scurrying around, defending a small shooter.
A small head bouncing up and down, balancing precariously on one foot, suggested a hopscotch game in progress. The swings on a swing set were occupied and were swishing up and down, up and down. A few clusters of children chattered busily and you could hear that special joyous cacophony of multiple child voices. I was pleased to observe this as I drove by an elementary school recently. Children at recess.
Seem like an ordinary, daily scenario? Unfortunately, not.
In many schools recess, the time during the school day children leave the classroom for the playground (an institution once as central to children as a popsicle on a hot day) is in decline. In many school districts it is being totally eliminated. The general rationale is that if children are not achieving enough in school the number of hours that they spend in the classroom must be increased. Or, if the children are not concentrating on their work, should the school actually offer recess, then they should not be permitted to go out. Let them sit in their desks.
Underlying this thinking are two common errors of thought I feel are often made when making decisions about children and youth. One of them is the “more is always better" argument. If children are not focusing on and learning from traditional academic tasks, then simply add more of them and increase time spent on them. Then there is what I call the “logical control" argument. If children are misbehaving, rather than address causative factors, just “logically" take away the next activity they may find attractive. This ostensibly will control or eliminate the undesired behavior.
However, in the case of recess, it seems to me that the paradoxical result of these practices will be to make children dislike school and make less, not more, effort in more formal academic tasks. Since I am a believer in the absolute necessity of rigorous and challenging academic work as well as recess, that would be tragic.
A little known but existent and growing body of literature strongly supports the value of recess “for not only teaching the “lessons of life" so well “taught" on a playground, but also for actively promoting the kinds of skills that are needed for active engagement in and success in, academic learning.
Lets recognize the significance of recess and in the interest of better learning and overall positive child development, advocate for it. Recess should never be over.
