Banning School Recess Research Paper
Katie Perkins
English 211C
MWF 12:00pm
Princess Perry
Word Count: 1,096
Banning School Recess: Cause and Effect
Recess is a time in which every child in America experienced and enjoyed at one point in their lifetime. Look back to your own childhood: how important was recess and play time to you? Banning recess in elementary schools has been an important topic of debate for most school districts around the country. As stated by the Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines recess as ‘regularly scheduled periods within the elementary school day for unstructured physical activity and play’” (Murray and Ramstetter 183). Almost half of all school districts have shifted …show more content…
“According to the Pediatrics journal “The Crucial Role of Recess in School,” “children develop intellectual constructs and cognitive understanding through interactive, manipulative experiences” (Murray and Ramstetter 183). In other words, children experience and learn various cognitive skills that are not learned in a classroom, but during unstructured play at recess. If one were to study elementary students throughout the school day, he/she would notice that the children become inattentive and restless after sitting at a desk for a period of time. Recess gives children the time that they need to release energy to be able to come back to class more concentrated and productive. When recess is eliminated from elementary schools, these cognitive benefits and skills are lost. Even with more instructional time, most of it would be lost trying to get the children to pay attention throughout an entire school day. Along with cognitive benefits come social and emotional benefits. “Recess promotes social and emotional learning and development for children by offering them time to engage in peer interactions…” (Murray and Ramstetter 184). While interacting with other children at recess, students learn communication skills that they wouldn’t learn sitting in a classroom or at home. Some skills include cooperation, sharing, problem solving, and self-control. All of these skills are used throughout the rest of a child’s life and are vital to learn in order to be successful in the classroom as well as in future activities. Making the decision to ban recess strips children of the opportunity to learn and practice these traits. Not only are emotional, cognitive, and social opportunities taken away, but physical ones are as well. Many people in society today complain and argue about how obesity has taken over the country, and that children need to become more active.
English 211C
MWF 12:00pm
Princess Perry
Word Count: 1,096
Banning School Recess: Cause and Effect
Recess is a time in which every child in America experienced and enjoyed at one point in their lifetime. Look back to your own childhood: how important was recess and play time to you? Banning recess in elementary schools has been an important topic of debate for most school districts around the country. As stated by the Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines recess as ‘regularly scheduled periods within the elementary school day for unstructured physical activity and play’” (Murray and Ramstetter 183). Almost half of all school districts have shifted …show more content…
“According to the Pediatrics journal “The Crucial Role of Recess in School,” “children develop intellectual constructs and cognitive understanding through interactive, manipulative experiences” (Murray and Ramstetter 183). In other words, children experience and learn various cognitive skills that are not learned in a classroom, but during unstructured play at recess. If one were to study elementary students throughout the school day, he/she would notice that the children become inattentive and restless after sitting at a desk for a period of time. Recess gives children the time that they need to release energy to be able to come back to class more concentrated and productive. When recess is eliminated from elementary schools, these cognitive benefits and skills are lost. Even with more instructional time, most of it would be lost trying to get the children to pay attention throughout an entire school day. Along with cognitive benefits come social and emotional benefits. “Recess promotes social and emotional learning and development for children by offering them time to engage in peer interactions…” (Murray and Ramstetter 184). While interacting with other children at recess, students learn communication skills that they wouldn’t learn sitting in a classroom or at home. Some skills include cooperation, sharing, problem solving, and self-control. All of these skills are used throughout the rest of a child’s life and are vital to learn in order to be successful in the classroom as well as in future activities. Making the decision to ban recess strips children of the opportunity to learn and practice these traits. Not only are emotional, cognitive, and social opportunities taken away, but physical ones are as well. Many people in society today complain and argue about how obesity has taken over the country, and that children need to become more active.