Check out this recent NYTimes article on recess, "Forget Goofing Around: Recess Has a New Boss."
An Elementary School in Newark is paying a "recess coach" $14/hour to organize recess games for students.
"Broadway Elementary brought in Ms. Parker in January out of exasperation with students who, left to their own devices, used to run into one another, squabble over balls and jump-ropes or monopolize the blacktop while exiling their classmates to the sidelines. Since she started, disciplinary referrals at recess have dropped by three-quarters, to an average of three a week. And injuries are no longer a daily occurrence."
When I read this I groaned. Of course, students will get into squabbles during recess and have to work out their issues with other students. That's what recess is all about. That's what they are supposed to do. If another student gets hurt, then a teacher or adult can help them work it out.
Elementary school kids need a break during the day to run around, get out of the classroom, be a kid, and relax. They need the freedom to do whatever they want during those few minutes of their highly structured school day.
There are so many benefits to recess. In case you need research, check out this article from the journal Pediatrics, "School Recess and Group Classroom Behavior."
When my boys were in elementary school, the principal sent out a request for parent volunteers to help run organized recess activities. I never volunteered for this because I was against it. And guess what, my boys did NOT like or participate in the organized games.
There's nothing wrong with organized games, but in elementary school, isn't that what PE is all about? When I watched the audio slide show in this article, I agreed with everything Ms. Parker said about children and play, but I felt her message related to PE class, not to recess.
As the NYTimes article says, "Structured recess...simply transplants the rules of the classroom to the playground. 'You still have to pay attention...you still have to follow rules. You don’t have that time for your brain to relax."
We all need a break. Let's not take it away from our youngest, most vulnerable children who need it the most!
