Recess should be in play for all grade levels,…
Recess should be in play for all grade levels, Pa. lawmaker says [Poll]
Bill Uhrich – Reading Eagle
Gov. Mifflin Intermediate School students during a recent morning recess. A state lawmaker wants to make recess mandatory for the younger students and even for students through high school, with varying formats. Her measure is bolstered by behaviorists who say physical activity bolsters mental acuity. The downside of adding recess is that something else has to give.
PUBLISHED: November 4, 2019 at 3:55 p.m. | UPDATED: August 19, 2021 at 1:46 a.m.
Ben Bowman was close to despondent.
After coming home from kindergarten one day last school year, he told his mom, Nicole, that his class hadn't been having its second recess period. He assumed it was because his class was being bad, that it was being punished.
When his mom contacted Ben's teacher, she found out that wasn't the case.
"The teacher said they didn't have time for a second recess," Nicole said.
It wasn't misbehavior that had stolen away her son's favorite part of the school day, but the new-normal rigors of elementary school.
Nicole went into action. She planned to distribute a petition to other Wilson School District parents demanding that recess time be increased. She went to the school board to plead her case.
The board, she said, was receptive. It agreed to institute a second recess period at the elementary schools.
Ben and his older brother, Charlie, were thrilled.
"Every day when I ask them about the day, I always hear about recess," said Nicole of Lower Heidelberg Township. "That's the first thing they tell me about."
Nicole said her boys, now 8 and 6, come home less restless and more happy than before. Their behavior in school has improved, too.
"I really did notice a difference in them, just in their moods when they come home from school," Nicole said. "It's just really important for them. And I noticed with the younger one, I wasn't getting any calls from his teacher about his behavior."
Fun helps work?
Ben and Charlie aren't alone.
For many students – past and present – recess is the best part of the school day.
It's where there's a chance to play with their friends, to make up games and blow off steam. Or maybe where students can explore their imaginations or simply take a few minutes to relax.
State Rep. Danielle Otten wants to make sure future generations of students get to share the experience.
The Chester County Democrat recently introduced a bill that would require public schools across the state to provide free-play recess for all students – at least 40 minutes per day for elementary students and 20 minutes for students in middle and high schools. It would also mandate that students get at least a 30-minute lunch period that they can't opt out of – something some high school students do to take extra classes.
Otten's bill does not provide plans for how schools will implement mandatory recess.
The bill has been referred to the House Education Committee. It is unclear how much support it has and if or when it will be considered by the full House.
Otten said the mandatory recess idea came out of a youth mental-health working group she created in her office, as well as in response to a string of suicides last school year in the Downingtown School District, which she represents. In speaking with stakeholders – parents, school board directors, students and community members – one thing became clear.
"One of the many things that were identified was that the school day is just becoming more and more difficult, especially for the little kids," she said.
Too much rigor?
Otten said more schools have reduced recess time over the years, with many offering only 15 minutes at the elementary level and none for middle or high school students. Recess is not something that is required by the Pennsylvania School Code.
"It's not developmentally appropriate for little kids to only have 15 minutes of recess," she said.
Otten said that one of the building blocks of mental health for children is having a healthy learning environment, including having a chance to take breaks.
For younger kids, traditional recess can serve that purpose, allowing them to run around, play games or let their minds wander. For older kids, recess might look a bit different.
Otten said recess in high school might consist of things like taking part in a club or doing a hobby or reading a book. In the past, she said, some schools allowed high school students to leave campus for lunch.
"That stuff is vanishing from our schools," Otten said. "They are getting away from the things that create balance for our kids.
"We've kind of pushed and pushed and pushed. People like the word 'rigor,' but the other side of that is also really important: taking a break, recovering, restoration."
Along with mandating recess periods, Otten's bill would also forbid schools from taking away recess as a form of punishment, or for students to do make-up or extra credit work.
The mandate issue
Dr. Amy Kennedy, an elementary education professor at Kutztown University and member of the Wilson School Board, reluctantly supported recess mandates.
"I typically don't agree with the government, or even top-down administrations, mandating anything in the classroom at all," she said. "But in this case, I feel like we've gone so far away from what's good for kids and are so laser-focused on testing. Schools are not deciding in favor of kids.
"It's absolutely terrible that we have to mandate this, but I think we do."
Kennedy said she was shocked to find out a few years back that Wilson wasn't offering a second recess at the elementary level, so much so that when her second-oldest son came home from kindergarten and told her, she didn't believe him. He's a bit of a jokester, she explained.
But when his younger, more serious brother entered kindergarten and reported the same thing, she realized it was true.
"I thought it was ridiculous," she said. "I couldn't even imagine 5-year-olds having less than 15 minutes. I couldn't wrap my brain around it."
Kennedy worked with Bowman to reinstate second recesses in the district, which means her daughter who is in kindergarten this year will never not know two recesses a day.
"I'm super proud of Wilson; I think we're doing the right thing for children," she said. "We're a very progressive district in that regard."
Kennedy said recess is important even if schools are offering other activities like brain breaks or lessons where kids are moving around. She said they're not the same as free-play recess and don't offer the same benefits to kids.
Kennedy said her focus has been on recess for elementary school students, and that she isn't well-versed on the research behind recess for middle and high school students. She did say she thinks it's really interesting.
Better brains
A 2013 policy statement by the American Academy of Pediatrics calls recess an "essential, planned respite from rigorous cognitive tasks."
"It affords a time to rest, play, imagine, think, move and socialize," it states. "After recess, for children, or after a corresponding break time for adolescents, students are more attentive and better able to perform cognitively."
The policy statement lauds the exploratory experience of playing in an unstructured social environment and says that it promotes social and emotional learning and development.
"Through play at recess, children learn valuable communication skills, including negotiation, cooperation, sharing and problem solving, as well as coping skills such as perseverance and self-control," it reads.
Recess also has physical benefits.
According to a January 2017 report by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Society of Health and Physical Educators, children and adolescents should engage in 60 minutes of physical activity every day. Recess is a key way to reach that goal, the report says.
"Students who are physically active tend to have better grades, school attendance, classroom behaviors and cognitive performance," the report says. "Schools can offer opportunities for students to be physically active, and one of these opportunities is recess."
The report recommends elementary students get at least 20 minutes of recess daily – half of the time proposed by Otten – and that middle and high school students get a period of daily physical activity in addition to physical education and classroom physical activity.
The report also recommends that recess not replace physical education, that schools not prohibit students from participating for disciplinary reasons, and that recess be provided prior to lunch.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention policy statement contains similar recommendations, but does not outline time requirements.
Instead, it says "the frequency and duration of breaks should be sufficient to allow the students to mentally decompress," and that they should "contribute to the recommended 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity per day" that kids are supposed to get.
Mandate mania
Despite Wilson's move to increase elementary recess time last year to a total of 35 minutes per day, Stacey Stoudt, assistant superintendent for elementary education, said she doesn't thinks districts should be forced to do it.
"You won't find too many educators at the elementary level who are opposed to having that much recess time," she said. "The little hiccup comes when you think of all the other mandate requirements that are part of my day. That's when educators become stressed."
Stoudt said she thinks how much recess time is offered should be left up to local schools and communities, and that the pendulum is swinging back to increasing it as part of an effort to educate the "whole child."
Stoudt also said that many people may not realize what a school day, particularly in elementary school, looks like. Most classrooms use action-based learning that gets kids up and moving around.
"It's not a bunch of kids sitting in the rows of yesteryear," she said.
While she doesn't support a mandate, Stoudt said she is glad Otten's bill was introduced because it serves as a spark to have conversations about what is best for kids.
Dr. Steven Gerhard, Gov. Mifflin superintendent, said he's on board with giving students mental breaks and encouraging activity and exercise. But he said the state forcing requirements on school districts is another matter.
"I'm not a huge fan of it being a mandate," he said.
In Mifflin, there are a variety of practices that are used to make sure kids aren't getting burned out and have an opportunity to be active throughout the day, Gerhard said. Along with traditional recess periods for elementary students, some teachers do brain breaks or energizer activities between academic subjects.
Sometimes students get up and move around as part of lessons, and high school students can build breaks into their schedules with study halls.
"Academic learning and activity should not be mutually exclusive," Gerhard said. "You shouldn't have students sitting for long periods of time; learning is an active process. It's a social process."
Gerhard said school districts are flooded with state mandates, many of which don't come with much, if any, support. Adding another in the form of requiring recess is an unnecessary burden.
"Something's got to give," he said. "Ultimately, local communities have the ability, and should have the ability, to decide what they want their school day to look like."
Different angles
And if leaders in Harrisburg are worried about students' mental health, Gerhard added, they should consult local districts about what they need to address it.
"When educators across this commonwealth, or across the nation, when we're looking at the issue of students' mental health, recess isn't even in the conversation," he said.
Gerhard said he also takes issues with the bill's banning of students opting out of lunch.
"That's sort of absurd, telling a student how they should self-regulate," he said.
At Oley Valley High School that's not an issue. Superintendent Tracy Shank said the district doesn't let students opt out of lunch, and that lunches are already 30 minutes long.
Like Gerhard, Shank said her district provides a multitude of options for students to stay active and take breaks all day.
Students in kindergarten through second grade have 30 minutes of recess per day, and kids in grades three through five have 25 minutes. Teachers have the ability to give their students more recess time on any given day if they feel it's needed and the weather cooperates, Shank said.
Teachers can also utilize brain breaks or developmentally appropriate mental or physical activities.
In middle and high school, students have a "Lynx period," during which they take part in a variety of activities.
Dr. Cindy Mierzejewski, Schuylkill Valley superintendent, said the idea of giving students breaks is a good one that deserves discussion. But it's an issue that will have major impacts on schools and shouldn't be forced upon them.
"Discussing the need for breaks during the day for students and its impact on mental health is a good idea for schools to undertake on a local level," she said. "I don't believe another state mandate is necessary."