Recess in Schools: Disposable or Essential?
Most educators know that in today’s society changes are a constant in the school
systems. One of the most well-known changes dealing with the school systems most
recently is the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act during the Bush administration (Henley). There
were many parts of this act that changed the school systems all over the nation; more tests,
a more detailed, concentrated curriculum, and more federal funding for schools that
demonstrate high accuracy (Henley). While these examples sound like superior additions to
the classrooms, most educators would agree that they tend to hold back the students in the
public school systems. One of the problems that even school administrators may not even
notice are the consequences on recess and physical education. Due to the multiple
additions into the curriculum and classroom, teachers have more material to cover during
the school day. Because school hours have not increased, there have been deletions of
“unnecessary” options. Recess and physical education are considered pointless by many.
According to Leslie Johnson, the author of First, do no harm: An argument against
mandatory high-stakes testing for students with intellectual disabilities, “recess is a waste of
time that would be better spent on academics” (Henley).
Studies have shown that starting in the 1980s public school systems started thinning
down students’ recess time in order to create more time for instruction (Recess—It’s
Indispensable!). The study had alarming statistics that showed just how bad students
nation-wide were affected. The study conducted by the National Center for Education in
2005 showed that ‘seven percent of first-graders and eight percent of third-graders had
never had recess; and 14 percent of first-graders and 15 percent of third-graders had only 1
to 15 minutes of recess a day.’ The same study, conducted after the No Child Left Behind
Act was established, stated that 20 percent of the country’s school systems decreased their
recess time. The average cut was 50 minutes a week (Recess—It’s Indispensable!).
The removal of recess or PE may not seem like a problem to various individuals;
however, this decision negatively affects our students every day in immense amounts. The
elimination of recess and PE in public schools is occurring all around the nation and is
causing a greater pressure on an increase in childhood obesity, poor academics, and stress
levels among students.
Of all the problems our students encounter with the deletion of recess, the increased
risk of obesity is the most detrimental. Obesity has been a rising problem across our
nation’s society as a whole. Childhood obesity has more than tripled in the past 30 years
(Miller); most of these children are elementary aged students. There are many different
causes that lead to obesity; while a lot of the causes are based on the child’s home life,
school also takes part as a big role in this problem. According to the National Center for
Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion- Division of Adolescent and School Health,
one of the top five strategies to obstruct childhood obesity is to strengthen a school’s
physical activities (Wechsler). It is impossible to strengthen these activities when they are
being cut down or even removed. Recess and PE have many benefits to children’s physical
well being.
Studies have shown that students who are more active during school hours are more
likely to stay active after school hours than students who have no physical activities. These
