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The Value of a Safe and Healthy Recess

Kids at Recces

At a time when many schools are looking to boost grades and test scores, stop bullying and violent behavior, lower absenteeism and enhance kids’ attitudes towards school overall, recess isn’t the first thing that comes to mind for most people. But recess should not be dismissed in the pursuit of any of these outcomes, because it can be a great tool to help reach these goals – or conversely, make them more difficult to achieve.

If we want to improve children’s ability to learn – along with their ability to solve problems, get along with others and be better citizens – the recess period offers a great opportunity.  Indeed, many experts, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, believe that recess is a crucial part of the school day.  The Academy, in fact, developed a policy statement that describes why recess is so important.

Just like adults, kids need a “brain break” from the intellectual challenge of schoolwork.  And possibly even more so than adults, they need the opportunity to be physically active when they are sedentary for so many other hours in the day.  Perhaps most importantly, they need the life and social skills that can best be learned during recess or other group sports activity.

But not all recess periods are created equal.  Unfortunately, in many schools recess is anything but the positive experience described above, and in fact contributes to problems that spill over to the classroom.  There are fights, kids being bullied and many students sitting on the sidelines, not getting in the game.  After recess, principals deal with discipline and injury reports, and teachers have trouble getting their students to settle down and get back to classwork. This scenario is what convinces many principals to limit or in some cases omit recess altogether.  But it doesn’t have to be that way.

When conducted well, recess can be a joyful time, filled with fun and laughter and leaving children energized, not agitated, and headed back to class focused and ready to learn.  By putting a trained staff person on the playground who engages with students, sets rules, and teaches new games and effective tools for resolving simple conflicts, recess can be truly transformed.  It can become a safe, healthy and happy experience, where every kid gets to play.

If we want to improve academics, the first step is making sure kids actually want to come to school. If they don’t feel safe, or aren’t engaged, they are less likely to show up.  On the other hand, when they look forward to school, they will make it their business to get there.  A fun-filled recess – where every child feels welcomed, involved and unafraid – can go a long way towards achieving this goal.

What we have found is that the lessons learned on the playground – conflict resolution, playing fair, empathy, inclusion, etc. – help in so many other parts of the school day as well. Here are just a couple of examples:

  • A principal in Chicago wrote to tell us about the total turnaround in his school’s annual spelling bee.  Before recess was transformed, kids in the audience would boo when a contestant got a word wrong and left the stage.  In the year following the recess transformation, students leaving the stage would get cheered and a virtual “high five” from the audience applauding them for their effort.
  • In Atlanta, after just a one-week pilot with a Playworks coach, a principal told us about overhearing a group of students working on a science project over the summer.  When arguments began, the kids used “Rock-Paper-Scissors” – Playworks’ conflict-resolution tool of choice – to resolve their disagreements.
  • If you’re thinking that kids don’t need our help to learn how to play, the fact is that the world is different now than when most of us were in school.  Today, many children don’t have the opportunity for safe unstructured play outdoors, with older neighbors and siblings teaching them the rules.  In addition, while some kids have access to organized sports activities, many others do not, leading to unequal knowledge, physical skill and confidence on the playground.

 

Article by Jill Vialet, EducationWorld Special Contributor. Vialet is the CEO and Founder of Playworks.