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Getting to lose recess in middle school is a rite of passage that some kids would rather do without. But given that certain states are passing new laws that outright demand kids be granted 20 minutes of playtime, it calls to mind just how beneficial this near-half-an-hour really is.
A few states have toyed around with making denying recess illegal, but not New Jersey
Florida is one such state to pass the 20-minute ruling recently, with Rhode Island having done so about a year ago. The Board of Education in Atlanta is even considering passing a law that would even forbid denying recess as a punishment from the teachers, and this had been a state that once eliminated recess altogether. Although it met opposition in the Senate, Arizona had even considered laws allowing 50 minutes of recess.
According to Angela Browning, the founder of Recess for All Florida Students, who claimed her children would come home in tears over having no time to socialize with their friends at school, “I cannot even begin to explain to you how much adding recess back into their day— how much of an effect that had on my kids…When we have these young children and we can’t find time to give them a 20-minute break a day, we’ve lost our way,” according to Time.
Not everyone necessarily agrees with such actions. In addition to the aforementioned opposition previous states, Governor Chris Christie vetoed a bill similar to the one in Florida that would have granted 20 minutes of recess to children in New Jersey. As he said at the time, “That was a stupid bill and I vetoed it.”
Over the years, a switch into putting more focus on standardized testing is believed to have slowly taken over recess breaks in schools throughout the United States. In 2007, the Center on Education Policy at George Washington University study found that 62% of school districts increased time studying English or arts since 2001, while around 44% of schools cut time on other subjects, with 20% specifically targeting recess.
What the scientists have been saying?
Still, health and education experts have defended recess. In a 2008 paper, Anthony Pellegrini, the former professor of educational psychology at the University of Minnesota, wrote that “Some devalue recess because they assume it to be — as they assume play in young children to be — a waste of time, time that could be otherwise more efficiently spent.”
“There is no theory or empirical evidence to support this point of view. The counter-argument, that recess is good, is backed by a large body of theory and empirical research.”
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has also advocated for children to have 60 minutes of active activity each day, adding that recess would be a good way of accomplishing that. According to a 2013 policy statement, the AAP added that “Recess is a necessary break in the day for optimizing a child’s social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development.”
“In essence, recess should be considered a child’s personal time, and it should not be withheld for academic or punitive reasons.”
Likewise, recess has been considered a healthy way of combating childhood obesity. “Quality physical education along with daily recess are necessary components of the school curriculum that enable students to develop physical competence, health-related fitness, [self-responsibility], and enjoyment of physical activity so that they can be physically active for a lifetime,” wrote the Council on Physical Education for Children and the National Association for Sport and Physical Education in a 2001 paper.
Recess is also believed to have some purpose for behavioral health. According to a 2009 study, children who had more than 15 minutes of recess had better behavior in class, with an earlier 1998 study claiming that students worked more and fidgeted less when given a break. A 2014 study published in Preventive Medicine even claimed that children who had a recess break were more willing to consume fruits and vegetables by 54%.
