Elementary School Recess

The debate over whether or not recess should remain a standard part of the elementary school daily schedule has existed for many years. The continuing trend toward reallocating time in school to focus on academics has led to a reduction of the amount of recess breaks children receive in school. Recess gives students time to take an unstructured break from their class work and allows them to play and socialize with their peers. Those in favor of eliminating recess believe that recess wastes valuable time that should be spent on classroom instruction, to boost student’s test scores and overall achievement. Research not only disproves the theory that replacing recess with additional instruction time improves children’s academic performance,
183). Play is widely recognized as an important aspect of child development, and recess provides children in school a time to rest, play, imagine, think, move and socialize (Jarrett, Maxwell, Dickerson, Hoge, & Yetley, 1998). Yet, there is a strong absence of recess in elementary schools today, as many educators and policymakers view recess as an unnecessary activity that can be eliminated in order to focus more on academics. Current research has found children experience many physical and behavioral benefits when recess is included in the regular every day schedule in elementary
Research on the human brain shows that extended periods of instruction with no breaks can impair an individual’s ability to learn and retain material (Jensen, 1998). There is a strong body of evidence in research supporting that breaks in children’s school day provided by recess are actually helpful for student learning and achievement. Numerous studies have examined the effect of recess on children’s attention and ability to focus on academic tasks, and have found evidence supporting the benefit of unstructured breaks in the form of recess improves student’s attention and may lead to better academic performance (Bohn-Gettler & Pellegrini,