R.I. School Eliminates Recess for Elementary Kids

By: CBS Interactive staff
Topics: Elementary School

(Credit: AP)

By TIM DALOISIO

NEW YORK (CBS/AP) A Rhode Island school district is doing away with the time-honored tradition of recess.

Beginning in the fall, East Providence Elementary School students will not be given 10 minutes before or after lunch to play. Instead of the traditional free-play, schools will be partnering with the YMCA to design a more comprehensive physical education program that will keep students active, even without recess.

As you can imagine, parents can be found falling on both sides of this conversation.

On one side, seeing a school district focusing on the challenge of childhood obesity and inactivity with creative structured activity via physical education reform is refreshing to see. Left of their own accord, not all children choose activity -- even in play time like recess -- and many of them need to be motivated to make the choice to move. A program like this could be very positive for parents facing some of these issues.

At the same time, it's not like all the facets of recess will be taken from these students unilaterally. Teachers in the district will be taught how to both recognize the need for and facilitate in class breaks that include some free-form play and other stress relieving "down time" for the class, allaying some of the fears parents have about the removal of the current notion of recess.

On the other side, you have parents worrying about how taking away the ten minutes of "kid time" from elementary school kids will negatively impact their children. Recess is not only play-time, but for children being pushed harder and more explicitly earlier in elementary schools than ever before, it is a source of release from stress, rejuvenation within the day and a constant lesson in self-guided social interaction.

For my daughter who will be approaching elementary school age soon, the free time at her pre-school is where most of the stories of the friendships she is making or the questions about social interactions are born. Critical learning about how children interact together -- both individually and in larger groups -- can happen in these small pockets of time on the playground. While it can certainly be argued that the playground is not the only place that social skills are acquired, my stronger memories of times -- both challenging and positive -- interacting with peers happened in this free time.

As a parent, I would be very nervous about my 6- to 8-year-old spending too much time in a completely structured school experience. There is certainly a place for the traditional notion of recess in my kids' experience. Whether it be learning new games or interacting directly with friends as peers. While I very much appreciate the inspiration for the increased importance in physical education by the Rhode Island school system, recess may not be the proper time to be replaced to accomodate it.

Do you think children need recess within their day? What are the benefits of structured physical education versus active, free play?

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by klleptic October 12, 2010 10:55 AM EDT: My question is why don't they have PE already? At our Elementary school kids get a thirty minute recess where they choose what to do AND a forty minute PE class. On top of that kids get five minute breaks within class when doing math and other subjects.
I don't know if this school reads these comments but if it does then read this: My word to this R.I. school is do you guys want to over stress out our kids? Subjects in schools are already reaching their maximum for what kids can take. They can't physically and psychologically take that kind education for that long without a break. Even having that exorcise time is still structured. Kids need the unstructured environment to understand themselves and how they act with other people without the supervision. And recess is the time old way of allowing that. If I were a parent looking at this school for my growing a thriving child I wouldn't even consider it because it sets up a very damaging environment. I suggest you rethink this vicious attack on children?s play time if you want any other generation of children to come to your school.; Reply to this comment


by saverecess September 4, 2010 10:07 PM EDT: It is a sad day when we take recess away from these kids who work so hard with the taxing curriculum mandates and test taking preparations. This is personal as we returned this year to a shortened recess time for our kids, I questioned it and all heck broke loose. I didnt realize there were two sides of parents on this issue, I thought it was parents vs. administration, but I get hate mail, told to take my kids out of the school if I dont like the policy, etc. Contacting govt officials, making flyers, getting petitions signed, we are determined to fight this in our district in TX. I would be appalled if our district removed it altogether. They are just kids, they have the right to play.
SAVE RECESS; Reply to this comment


by recessdoctor August 24, 2010 7:22 PM EDT: Experts agree that playtime can be just as vital as classroom time to a child?s social, emotional and educational development.

You can have the Peaceful Playgrounds "Right to Recess" Campaign Toolbox sent directly to your email box. The campaign toolbox contains a full PowerPoint presentation and speakers notes along with all research and documents to support daily, unstructured physical activity during school hours.

Help Save Recess. Here's how.
http://www.peacefulplaygrounds.com/right-to-recess.htm; Reply to this comment


by Pollo_de_la_Diabla August 22, 2010 9:44 AM EDT: People need to leave kids alone! If what to teach them structured blah blah blah, DO! IT! IN! PE! This is ridiculous! Parents need to get the h3ll off Facebook and Twitter and stand up for their children! I'm not trolling here, I am just passionate about it. I have a daughter still in elementary, and I take an active interest in what she is doing. She's more of talker/spectator at recess. Lazy? Not after 16 hours of team gymnastics every week! This is another classic example of over-educated ivy league yacht lickers that think they actually really represent us.; Reply to this comment


by SamanthaShuman August 21, 2010 2:07 PM EDT: I am really, really unhappy about this. As a child, I spend much of my time hating the organized aspect of gym class. Recess afforded me a chance to play without the aspect of worrying if I would be picked last for a sport or if my classmates would harass me if I didn't happen to excel at whatever game was being played. Recess was always a welcome time for me to be able to chose which activity I wanted to participate in and with whom I wanted to play.

Taking this away from our children is a poor choice. I understand the need for more physical activity in our children's lives, but their lives are so over-structured now that they deserved not to be micromanaged at recess. It is ridiculous that we aren't allowing our children a chance to be young and then wondering why they grow into teens and young adults who are incapable of managing their own lives and making any sort of informed choice. How do we expect them to learn when they're always being told what to do?

My daughter will eventually be part of the East Providence school system and I hope by the time she is old enough for elementary school that this foolishness has been phased out. Someone with some common sense should run for school council.; Reply to this comment


by Jakesterman August 21, 2010 11:42 AM EDT: This school has too much money... send it to a school district in need or cut taxes to get the economy going again. What a dumb_a$$ waste of time and money. Let the kids play for christsakes!; Reply to this comment


by Jakesterman August 21, 2010 11:41 AM EDT: This school has too much money... send it to a school district in need or cut taxes to get the economy going again. What a ******* waste of time and money. Let the kids play for christsakes!; Reply to this comment


by punkin369 August 20, 2010 9:33 AM EDT: So sad. Kids need that time to be able to simply talk and scream and let out energy. I would have been such a bad student if I hadn't had time to release my energy and talk!!! kids are not allowed to talk enough. this really is sad; Reply to this comment


by canislupus16 August 19, 2010 1:35 PM EDT: I think "dad" is making an assumption here that may not be right, and is likely making a false assumption, i.e., a structured, physical-oriented recess period would not provide for social interation/social development skills and/or friendship development.

Of course, "back in the day" when I had recess, although it was not institutionally structured, recess, whether inside or out, was a period of plenty of physical activity - softball, basketball, jumping rope (yup, we guys did it too), foot races, throwing a football or baseball around, playing tag, etc. In the winter, our time was spent sledding or sliding down the hill next to both schools I attended, requiring of course an aerobic trek back up the hill. Plenty of friendships were made and enhanced during those periods. From my observation of kids today, many, if not most, look soft and pudgy - they are downright overweight, due not only to poor parenting and lousy diets, but no physical activity to speak of.

Moving on to "structured" play, I think of the school sports I played, the practices for which were all extremely structured and, frankly, downright exhausting of course. Yet there was no loss of comraderie or opportunity for friendship and the development of social skills. In fact, such structured activiites - practices and the games themselves - essentially required learning how to interact, learning to respect not only your team mates but individuals on the opposition as well.

I can't see where some structured physical activity during "recess" is going to hurt a kid's social development, social skills, or friendships one iota. In fact, it is a lame argument given that any physical activity, whether institutionally structured or not, would involve social interaction with a child's classmates.; Reply to this comment