When a child enters elementary school, the one thing that stands out above the schoolwork and lunchtime is recess. Recess is an important factor in an elementary student’s school day because it allows them to take a break from the classroom to run around, play, and scream to their heart's content. Recently, more and more parents have been protesting school policies to hold students in their classrooms due to a form of punishment or as a result of the push for standardized testing. They think that long stretches of work can increase cognitive skills for young students when it is exactly the opposite. They need short stretches of class work and at least twenty minutes of recess, which increases cognitive thinking abilities, and social and emotional development.
Besides elementary school students, everyone needs a break. Research shows that everyday people can be more efficient, and learn better and faster when their efforts are more distributed than concentrated. This includes breaks and down time rather than sitting in the classroom all day. Since young children tend not to process information as effectively as older children, they benefit the most from taking a break through unstructured play. Recess also reduces stress, which is a valuable benefit given that stress has a negative impact on young children’s life. Kids who are considered hyperactive can finally have a chance to release all of the energy that they have been building up inside of them in a healthy manner. Since recess lacks structure, elementary students can take control of their personal world, which is a rarity in their lives. While they play, they can develop social skills. Recess is the practically the only time where children can socialize and not get punished for it. When the school day ends, children do not normally communicate with their neighborhood friends. In the classroom, they are obligated to sit down and remain silent. Some schools go as far as putting these kids on silent lunch, because administrators and employees in the lunch department believe that the cafeteria is excessively loud. Standardized testing has also become an issue that has trickled down towards elementary schools. Instead of going outside to play, students have to be cooped up in their classrooms and take multiple benchmark tests. Administrators believe that by taking these tests, elementary students will do better as the year progresses. However, they stress out students and make them mentally weak.
Despite the lack of recess that is occurring in elementary schools across the United States, teachers and parents are still fighting and protesting for recess to be implemented back into the elementary school system. One of the demands that provoked a successful strike was in Seattle, Washington where recess was guaranteed for all students. And many Chicago schools reinstated recess after three decades. However, America is lagging behind on the amount of time elementary school students should get for recess. In contrast to the United States, Finland and Japan receive breaks for ten to fifteen minutes every hour. America should not allow young children to be stressed out in their classrooms by making them do numerous amounts of assignments that require critical thinking and standardized testing. They need a break to relieve that stress and do better in school due to that release of energy.
