Don’t take our recess away!

Quietly, and ever so slowly (but surely), one of the great staples of our American education system is becoming extinct.

Not math, reading or writing—oh no, those stalwarts of academia seem to be safe for now. We are talking instead about the most beloved 20 to 30 minutes of the school day for many young children—that being recess.

Recess, that splendid and treasured time to get away from the desk, the classroom, the smartboard, the teacher’s lessons, etc., and just go out and play.  Great memories for all of us who have graduated beyond the recess years.

Free, unstructured, barely supervised play is always beneficial. This “break in the action” is positive on many levels.

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Experts in the field of play list physical exercise, socialization, mental health, and improved academics as some of the benefits from recess.

Other countries might be way ahead of us in realizing this. In fact, many schools in Europe have mandatory breaks after 50-minute classes, even at the high school level. No drop in school productivity for them.

But it seems in recent years, here in the United States, recess has become nearly extinct, and if it’s not extinct, it’s in need of a search party.

Schools have placed less and less value on this brief free time, with the primary motivator apparently being the pressure to get better test scores. Any time spent away from the classroom, it seems, is lost time on learning a particular academic lesson.

But that thought flies in the face of multiple studies that prove the theory that children who are given brief breaks to exercise and play will actually perform better in the classroom. Their thinking and attention skills more acute after having this break.

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Two quotes come to mind here to support the “bring back recess” coalition.

(Editor’s note:Not really a “coalition” yet, but this columnist might start one if the trend keeps up.)

One is: “Wasted time that you enjoy… is not wasted time.”

The other: “Never let school get in the way of your education.”Some of a child’s best learning experiences are done from outside the classroom (maybe even during recess).

To be fair, recess has not completely disappeared from our grade schools and kindergartens. Its life still lingers on, but sadly, it is becoming more and more an expendable part of the school day.

Let us hope that trend reverses. We could all, adults included, use a little recess time in our day, couldn’t we?