recess is necessary for overall health

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Home : 2004 : November : 28

recess is necessary for overall health
By Stacia

If a child is misbehaving at recess (such as hurting another child)- then I think it's fine to stop the child from participating in recess. But that wouldn't be up to me, it would be up with whoever is watching the child
at recess. I think there's a huge difference between hitting another child and calling a child a name. I wouldn't give the same consequence (no recess) for each of these behaviors. If the hitting occurred during recess - then that child would miss recess. I wouldn't take a child's recess away though, if they were misbehaving in my class. It doesn't make sense to me in my situation

- since I am not with the child at recess. While I understand the not allowing a child to play with others because of misbehaviors - I guess I approach it a little differently. While they may be an immediate consequence to stop the situation from escalating - I look at how to teach the child more appropriate social skills and how to prevent incidents in the future.

I don't look at recess or any other subjects as privileges. Children deserve education in all areas of development - that includes physical and social skills. Unfortunately, too often in contemporary curricula, children have limited opportunities for social and physical outlets and skill building. In a long school day, children deserve at least recess time to work on social and physical skills. It's absolutely necessary to their overall development. I think the reason that children have such a difficult time during this period of the day is because there are very, very few times during the day that are not adult-controlled. They are not equipped to handle making choices and initating activities. Which is terribly scary - I cringe to think what these children are going to be like in adulthood.