Time to Play: More State Laws Require Recess
Unstructured playtime is making a comeback in schools as frustrated teachers, parents, and advocacy groups demand legislative action.
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Go to My Saved Content.Jana Della Rosa鈥檚 7-year-old son, Riley, never had any particular interest in her job as an Arkansas state representative. At least, not until she started pushing for students to get 40 minutes of recess each day. Then, she says, he transformed into a little lobbyist.
鈥淎ll this time I haven鈥檛 had a cool job,鈥� said Della Rosa, a Republican from the city of Rogers and a mother of two. 鈥淣ow Mom has a cool job. He asks me at least weekly, 鈥楬ave you got me more recess time yet?鈥欌��
Against a backdrop of teacher strikes aimed at systems that feel unresponsive to teachers and students, an effort to pass laws mandating recess for elementary-age children has picked up steam. Kids like Riley aren鈥檛 the only ones who think it鈥檚 a good idea: Study after study has shown that unstructured play time is crucial to development, not only benefiting physical health but also improving cognitive faculties not normally associated with play, including focus and recall.
Sensing a movement in the making鈥攐ne driven by frustrated teachers, parents, and advocacy groups like 鈥攑oliticians across the U.S. are introducing legislation that will square the school calendar with the available research and require听schools to provide more playtime for young students.
The Research Says...
The benefits of a break in the school day extend beyond the value of the time outside.
of more than 200 elementary students, for example, found that physical activity improved students鈥� fitness and brain function, enhancing their accuracy and reaction time in cognitive tasks. Other studies have concluded that children who have unstructured time during the school day exhibit greater creativity and problem-solving skills, are less disruptive, and learn crucial social lessons like how to resolve disputes and form cooperative relationships.
Citing all of those factors, in 2017 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)鈥攚hich pointedly differentiates play from physical education, defining recess as 鈥渦nstructured physical activity and play鈥濃�攔ecommended at the elementary school level.
The American Academy of Pediatrics also weighed in, describing recess in a 2012 as a 鈥渘ecessary break in the day for optimizing a child鈥檚 social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development鈥� that should 鈥渘ot be withheld for punitive or academic reasons.鈥�
鈥業t Makes Me Want to Cry鈥�
In the last two decades, as the federal No Child Left Behind Act ushered in a new focus on standardized testing鈥攁nd schools responded to new security concerns and shrinking budgets鈥攔ecess was increasingly seen as dispensable.
听
In a push to emphasize core subjects, 20 percent of school districts reduced recess time between 2001 and 2006, according to a at George Washington University. And by 2006, the CDC had concluded that one-third of elementary schools did not offer daily recess for any grades.
鈥淲hen you go back to the start of public schools and the drive to get kids educated 135 years ago, they all had recess,鈥� said Robert Murray, a pediatrician who co-authored the American Academy of Pediatrics statement.
鈥淚n the 鈥�90s, as we got more and more focused on the core courses and academic performance and test scores and all that, people began to look at recess as free time that could be taken away,鈥� Murray said.
Researchers and teachers alike say kids have suffered for it. Deb McCarthy, a fifth-grade teacher at Lillian M. Jacobs Elementary School in Hull, Massachusetts, said she started seeing an increase in behavioral problems and anxiety about eight years ago. She blames it on the heightened expectations and loss of playtime at school. There are schools where kids have no recess at all, she said, because time once set aside for play is now dedicated to testing prep.
鈥淚t makes me want to cry,鈥� McCarthy said, echoing the frustrations of many elementary teachers across the nation, who have argued that more 鈥榮eat time鈥� was not developmentally appropriate. 鈥淚鈥檝e been teaching for 22 years, and I鈥檝e seen firsthand the change.鈥�
States听of听Play
Now听some states are trying to reverse course. At least five have a recess law on the books: Missouri, Florida, New Jersey, and Rhode Island mandate 20 minutes of recess daily for elementary students, while Arizona requires two recess periods without specifying a length.
Seven more states鈥擨owa, North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, Texas, Connecticut, and Virginia鈥攔equire between 20 and 30 minutes of daily physical activity for elementary schools, leaving it up to schools how to allocate the time. Recently, legislators in Connecticut proposed to increase that state鈥檚听time commitment to 50 minutes.
Much of the legislation of the last few years has been initiated at the urging of parents and teachers. Florida鈥檚 law, first proposed in 2016, passed in 2017 after 鈥渞ecess moms鈥� across the state organized on Facebook and lobbied lawmakers. The group now helps parents in other states mount their own fights for free play.
A bill that would have required 20 minutes of recess in Massachusetts failed last year, but McCarthy, a member of the Massachusetts Teachers Association鈥檚 government relations committee, is hopeful it will pass this year. 鈥淲e came really close the last time, but then they decided to put it to a study,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what there really is to study, in all honesty.鈥�
Some educators have raised concerns that recess laws add another mandate to a school day that鈥檚 already jam-packed with requirements. Anna Fusco, president of the Broward Teachers Union and a onetime fifth-grade teacher, said Florida鈥檚 recess requirement was 鈥渁 good thing, but they forgot to figure out where it鈥檚 going to fit.鈥�
Others have decided to rethink recess at the school or district level. A program called 鈥擫et鈥檚 Inspire Innovation 鈥橬 Kids鈥攊n several Texas school districts sends kids outside for four 15-minute recess periods daily.
Debbie Rhea, a professor and associate dean at Texas Christian University, launched the initiative after seeing a similar practice in Finland. It reminded her of her own elementary school years.
鈥淲e have forgotten what childhood should be,鈥� said Rhea, who was a physical education teacher before going into academia. 鈥淎nd if we remember back to before testing鈥攚hich would be back in the 鈥�60s, 鈥�70s, early 鈥�80s鈥攊f we remember back to that, children were allowed to be children.鈥�
LiiNK was a big change for the Eagle Mountain Saginaw Independent School District, where schools saw their recess time quadruple after implementing the program four years ago.
鈥淲e鈥檝e seen some amazing changes in our students,鈥� said district LiiNK coordinator Candice Williams-Martin. 鈥淭heir creative writing has improved. Their fine motor skills have improved, their [body mass index] has improved. Attention in the classroom has improved.鈥�
New Beginnings
The trend of embracing recess encourages researchers like Murray, who is hopeful that schools will continue giving kids back that critical free time. 鈥淚 think a lot of schools are starting to say, 鈥楪ee, if our purpose is to try to help students learn, this turns out to be a benefit, not a detriment,鈥欌�� Murray said.
Betty Warren, a kindergarten teacher at Banyan Elementary in Broward County, Florida, said she always carves out time for her students to unwind. Even when she taught upper grades, she had her math club students hula hoop or bounce balls while doing times tables.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just hard for them to sit for long periods of time, so taking the breaks is very helpful. They鈥檙e more focused and ready to settle down and listen and learn,鈥� she said. 鈥淧lus, it makes school fun. I鈥檓 a big believer that it鈥檚 got to be fun.鈥�
Back in Arkansas, Della Rosa jokes that she feels like she鈥檚 鈥渇inally able to fulfill that campaign promise I made when I was in fifth grade and running for class president: more recess for everybody.鈥�