Do Kids Need Recess?
By MICHAEL GONCHAR
Recess is one period in the day that many students don’t want to miss. Yet with all the pressures on increasing test scores, schools have cut back on the amount of time that kids get to be kids. Plus, teachers sometimes use recess as a privilege that can be taken away if students don’t behave. Of course, children hate to lose recess — but should the rest of us worry?
Do kids need recess?
In “Students Who Lose Recess Are the Ones Who Need It Most,”Jessica Lahey writes:
Despite overwhelming evidence that periods of unstructured play and social interaction are a crucial part of children’s cognitive, academic, physical and mental wellness, schools continue to take away recess privileges as a penalty for academic or behavioral transgressions. I’ve done it, many times. When students fail to hand in assignments or when a child acts up in class, I’ve taken their recess privileges hostage. I did it both as a way of punishing for bad behavior or as a way to carve out a few extra minutes of learning time in an otherwise packed day.Unfortunately, I’m not alone. According to a Gallup poll commissioned by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 77 percent of school principals report that they withhold recess as punishment, even as they simultaneously sing the praises of recess as a factor in academic, cognitive, and social development. In that same report, eight in 10 principals acknowledge that time to play has a “positive impact on achievement,” and two-thirds of principals state that “students listen better after recess and are more focused in class.”In response to this common disciplinary practice, as well as the overall declining rates and duration of recess in this country, the American Academy of Pediatrics recently issued a policy statement, “The Crucial Role of Recess,” to set the record straight and make recommendations to schools. Their stance is unequivocal: “recess offers cognitive, social, emotional, and physical benefits that may not be fully appreciated when a decision is made to diminish it.” In other words, schools should keep recess on the schedule, and teachers like me shouldn’t take it away.
NOW YOU GO: Read the entire article, then tell us …
— Do kids need recess? Why?
— Is recess just for elementary school students, or should students in middle school — or even high school — have some form of recess or unstructured time? Do you still have recess?
— How important was recess in your schooling? What did you do during recess? Was it beneficial for you?
There are many middle schools that have recess, including my old school. I think that middle school that have recess tend to do a little better than school who don't because of that little wind down time that the kids have. While i was in middle school, I always used to have fun in recess, but when i want back in to learn i felt that i was way more focused than when i didn't have recess.
ReplyDeleteTo me, I don't think you ever too old to have fun. But there comes a time in life where we would like to try new things. I think that kids now a days are way more curious than before i say this because when teens see something cool, right away they want to get there hands on it. I think that in a way thats a good thing, but sometimes, it be a life or death decision and they might not even know it.
Having known that kids can get there hands on so many illegal things is really crazy because they can do anything they want with that thing. I think that having recess for high school kids will open a whole different world for kids and people that work in the high schools. By this i mean that people can make drug, gun, and gang business if we were to have recess. And knowing that kids and teens are more exposed to this type of violence, is really intimidating.
~Erik Sandoval
Yes i do think that kids need recess because they need freedom as well , because some kids work hard and might deserve it. On the other hand kids who doesn't do the right things , or give teachers a hard time, not doing homework and ect .. i feel as though they shouldn't have recess. It all depends on that person and how they act/behave.
ReplyDeleteYes i think i think recess is for elementary school students because when you get to middle school i think you should focused more on work .Also teachers should be preparing students on how high school is going to be like.Certain high school doesn't have recess because they feel that work is more important than playing. some schools are preparing you for colleges. unlike elementary school i feel that they should have recess because they can have fun and be around each other. I do believe that high school students and middle school students should have some type of unstructured time because i know students don't want to do work all day long and be bored. No i don't have recess and its not really a problem to me because i been use to it since 7th grade year.
Recess was fun ,to me because we had 25 minutes sometimes they extend the recess depending on our behavior. what i did for recess is played on the roof, listening to music and sometimes went to sleep under the sun . yes it was beneficial to me because i didn't have to work the entire day until 4.00pm. I Love recess when i was in grammar school, now that i got older i dont even think about it now.
Ambersmith
Kids need recess. Kids need recess because they let all of their energy out while they are playing.They also will focus more because kids get irratated and upset.Without recess kids get in more trouble.
ReplyDeleteIt is proven that kids who have recess get better grades because they have that time to themselves.If they don’t get recess they are getting their childhood taken away.That nean teachers are trying to make them grow up too fast.Kids are'nt able to go a full day in school without some form of exercise or having fun.
In my school recess was important because we got to have fun as well as doing our school work.It helped many kids because they wrre relaxed after recess.Students should have recess everyday no matter what grade just to have some form of exercise.Recess plays a big role in how students function in school so recess should exist.
Robert Harris
I believe that all kids do need recess. It is something that they need now with days being longer and school bring harder. It is a time for them to relax or do whatever they want. However teachers feel like it is a privilege and sometimes take time or the entire recess time for the kids to work more. If it is taken from them, it makes most students unhappy and might not pay attention in class like they are suppose to or would if they did have recess.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I believe, I think that elementary, middle, and even high school should have recess. In elementary school they most likely always have recess and that is something that should stay the same. In some middle schools, recess is being brought back. However in a shorter period of time. I think that it should either stay the same or the amount of time given for recess should increase. And for high school, recess should really stay. It is something that would help students cope with the daily stress that they get and also mingle with new students.
For my school we do not get any recess at all. It wold be a miracle if we did, but the closest thing we get to recess is lunch and still we don’t get as much freedom as we should. Sometimes it is even made into silent lunch and teachers think it is a privilege that we get. I think it is something that should be given to us because we do not get to talk in class at all. And I think that if we were to get recess it would help get what students want talk about out and for them not to try to talk during class. It would help students pay more attention in class. It would also make it easier for teachers.
- Miguel Flores
Kids should have recess because they need a little break throughout the day. They need a break from school because they get tired and more ignorant if they don’t get a little freedom they won’t learn as good as they would if they had freedom. Kids should also have recess because they will do better academically and they will do better physically. If teachers take away the privilege of recess to some kids they won’t be as refreshed as they would if they went to recess and they might keep doing the same thing over again that got their privilege because they would want to get back at the teacher.
ReplyDeleteRecess shouldn’t be just for elementary schools because everyone needs a little bit of freedom throughout the day in school so they will be less distracting when they get back to class and so they will be refreshed and wide awake to finish the remainder of the classes good. High schools should be the schools with the most free time because they have to learn harder materials and they deal with more stress than elementary schools. In UICCP we do get a little bit of free time in lunch. It is good to have free time during lunch but it should be at a separate time than lunch because if the students are talking in lunch they won’t have enough time to eat. So UICCP should make some time for free time so we won’t be in a lot of stress and so we will do better academically.
Recess is not really important at all in UICCP because they focus more on discipline and morality. But UICCP should have more free time if they want to go up as a school in discipline and academics. I used to go to recess in elementary school and it was fun because we got to play sports. In recess we also used to be able to use our phones and talk and we were even able to do our homework in recess. Recess was very beneficial for me because I focused more on my classes, I got into less trouble, and I got all my homework done and I went up in my grades.
Yeshua chavez
Dear reader,
ReplyDeleteI think that kids and teens do need recess. I say this because recess help cognitive, social, emotional, and physical skills and benefits. I also think that kids need some time to relax and do things they want to do. Teens need time to relax too and prepare for the struggles of the day. Also recess would help students become healthier because students will be exercising more. Kids also need recess because it helps them express themselves.
I don't think recess should be just for elementary school students. I think that it should be for high school students too because high school students go through many stressful things during the school day. Recess could be a way to lower stress or frustration during the day or before tests. High school students could also use this time to study or finish homework so that they do not fail. Lastly, recess could be use to do things that you can’t do in class like: reading, talking, and hanging with friends.
In my schooling recess was very important to me because I would get very sleepy during the day. Recess would be a way for me to sleep and not get in trouble. I would also sometimes do homework to try to get good grades. But I mostly played games with my friends, games like football. Recess was very beneficial because it would let people get rid of every problem they had and just have fun.
Sylvester Stevenson
By Ian Sample
ReplyDeleteI believe that it should be good to let kids that are in 8th grade and below should have recess because it's a positive way to let those kids release out some energy. It can also help them focus after their done with recess, because if their tired they won't cause any trouble in class. So yes it would be a good idea for 8th grade and below to have recess, but it wouldn't be a good idea for the 9th to 12th grade to have recess. It wouldn't be a good idea, because they need to show more maturity in their classwork and studies so that they can pass that grade level and get good grades while doing it.
It should only be for elementary school because they're young ten us and they couldn't possibly take care of all the schoolwork that we have on a daily basis.If we were to have recess then we would lose focus in our study for important quizzes, tests, and the interim. Students in high school shouldn't have recess because it would mess up our class routine as well, because we could possibly lose something important like classwork or a signed slip.I don't have recess at U.I.C College prep, because were to busy doing all of this schoolwork getting ready for life and college.
Recess isn't that important to me, my school doesn't even like the students have recess because it could probably get out of hand at some point. So recess really isn't important at my high school. Back in 8th grade I did have recess at my old school, but I mostly read books whenever we went outside. It was beneficial for me because at my old school we always took these reading quizzes on computers, and I always won cause I love reading books. -Ian Sample-
I believe that every kid in this world needs to have some type of recess until they reach the appropriate age to no longer have it. because kids cant be in class and sit down for hours, they sometimes need to move around because they seem to be very hyper at times like my brother is. i believe that if kids continue to get recess than they would be able to calm themselves down after going out and running around. so when they come back to class they would be less hyper and they would be able to listen in class. because i use to be really hyper in class until we went outside to play i felt calm right after.
ReplyDeleteIf kids would stop getting recess than they would be getting into trouble in class in my opinion, because they are hyper and they might be very jumpy and loud during class. so it would be better for kids to have recess because they could let everything out and they could feel better in class and not have the need to do something. because if they are in class and they haven't had recess than it could get them into trouble and could lead them to no good in the future. because they would always be loud and jumpy in class because they were never able to go out side and release it all.
Not giving kids recess could lead them to a bad future because they would not know how to calm themselves and they would always be doing something else other than what they are suppose to. in my opinion kids need to go out during recess because they need to let out all of their excitement that they have. because they are really hyper and it could lead them into getting in trouble because they would be doing something else instead of what they need to be doing. BRANDON CAMARILLO
I believe that students in all grade levels should have a period of free time. What I mean about free time is recess. I say this because this free time can give an angry student time to clear their mind or an average person to do their homework thats do next class. Also if students just go class to class without a break they might get bored and start falling asleep in class and want get no work done. So I believe that students need recess.
ReplyDeleteI believe that recess is for all grade levels but we only have recess up until middle school. Curtain high schools don't give their students recess. I not sure why they don’t, all I know is that they need to start giving it to us. I believe that chicago students are so reckless because they don’t give us time to hang with other students. Its already too late to fix this problem now because the students are to reckless
Getting my mind cleared was the most important thing for me in recess. I have this temper problem that if I don't think to myself I could just go off. I cleared my mind in recess by playing basketball. Basketball seem to always calm me down when im mad. This mean that recess got me out of alot of trouble and it can get a lot of more people out of trouble to.
Jemone Kuykendoll
i believe that every kid in every school should get so recess they can feel free from all the school work that the get in class. i also feel they should get recess so that they can get a workout while having fun.
ReplyDeletei think that student in class should get a form a recess because i think that people need to relax from all the school work and demerits in uic so i think we deserve a form of recess in order for us to relax.
when i was little i don’t think that recess was a big thing for the teachers but i also think that recess was a huge thing for kids my age and lower because we didn't have to do work from classes and all we did was just relaxes and have fun
-Brandon Cerero
In my opinion, I believe that kids do need recess. The reason is because they have to do work all day and not enjoy any fun time with their friends. I think that recess is okay to have during elementary and middle school, but not during high school. Lunch is kind of like recess for people in high school because they get to eat and hang out with their friends. Also they aren’t kids anymore so they are expected of more considering college is the next thing after high school. In college there isn’t really much freetime you can have. In my old school, we had recess for about an hour. The first 30 minutes we were able to do whatever we wanted on the playground. The last 30 minutes the whole class would do something fun all together.
ReplyDelete-Jocelyn Torres