Playground equipment-Let the kids play
Playground equipment-Let the kids play
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only 22 percent of school districts required daily recess for elementary students in the 2011-12 school year. Fewer than half of these districts required that recess be at least 20 minutes long. Recess and physical education were edged out as schools emphasized academic subjects and sought to improve test scores under No Child Left Behind. That federal education law was replaced by the Every Student Succeeds Act, signed into law by President Barack Obama on Dec. 10.
Remember when your parents used to tell you to go outside and play?
They may have just been trying to get you out from under their feet, but they were right when they encouraged you to play.
It was indeed good for you.
Which is why the American Academy of Pediatrics is among the many groups that believe schools should make daily recess a priority.
And it’s why we hope — as Pennsylvania lawmakers, policymakers and educators figure out how to implement the Every Student Succeeds Act in Pennsylvania — a new emphasis is placed on both phys ed and recess.
Related: Pennsylvania's Obesity Prevention and Wellness Program
Most of us know childhood obesity is a national public health crisis. While it has declined among preschoolers, obesity among older children and adolescents remains at an alarming 17 percent, according to the CDC.
That translates to 12.7 million obese children.
Education about healthy eating can help fight obesity, but it has to be paired with physical activity.
The good news is that if that physical activity is built into the school day, it actually can improve academic performance.
And that physical activity shouldn’t just be phys ed — as crucial as that is — but also recess.
In a 2013 policy statement, the American Academy of Pediatrics called recess “a crucial and necessary component of a child’s development.” It pointed to studies that showed that recess made children “more attentive and more productive in the classroom,” even if the students spent much of their recess time socializing. Any “type of activity at recess benefitedcognitive performance afterward,” the academy said.
Middle and high school educators, please note: The academy also pointed out that “the benefits of periodic breaks in the academic day to optimize cognitive processing applies equally to adolescents and to younger children.”
Through adult-supervised play at recess, the academy said, “children learn valuable communication skills, including negotiation, cooperation, sharing and problem-solving, as well as coping skills such as perseverance and self-control. ... Recess offers a child a necessary, socially structured means for managing stress.”
And it “should not be withheld for punitive or academic reasons,” the academy said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only 22 percent of school districts required daily recess for elementary students in the 2011-12 school year. Fewer than half of these districts required that recess be at least 20 minutes long. Recess and physical education were edged out as schools emphasized academic subjects and sought to improve test scores under No Child Left Behind. That federal education law was replaced by the Every Student Succeeds Act, signed into law by President Barack Obama on Dec. 10.
Remember when your parents used to tell you to go outside and play?
They may have just been trying to get you out from under their feet, but they were right when they encouraged you to play.
It was indeed good for you.
Which is why the American Academy of Pediatrics is among the many groups that believe schools should make daily recess a priority.
And it’s why we hope — as Pennsylvania lawmakers, policymakers and educators figure out how to implement the Every Student Succeeds Act in Pennsylvania — a new emphasis is placed on both phys ed and recess.
Related: Pennsylvania's Obesity Prevention and Wellness Program
Most of us know childhood obesity is a national public health crisis. While it has declined among preschoolers, obesity among older children and adolescents remains at an alarming 17 percent, according to the CDC.
That translates to 12.7 million obese children.
Education about healthy eating can help fight obesity, but it has to be paired with physical activity.
The good news is that if that physical activity is built into the school day, it actually can improve academic performance.
And that physical activity shouldn’t just be phys ed — as crucial as that is — but also recess.
In a 2013 policy statement, the American Academy of Pediatrics called recess “a crucial and necessary component of a child’s development.” It pointed to studies that showed that recess made children “more attentive and more productive in the classroom,” even if the students spent much of their recess time socializing. Any “type of activity at recess benefitedcognitive performance afterward,” the academy said.
Middle and high school educators, please note: The academy also pointed out that “the benefits of periodic breaks in the academic day to optimize cognitive processing applies equally to adolescents and to younger children.”
Through adult-supervised play at recess, the academy said, “children learn valuable communication skills, including negotiation, cooperation, sharing and problem-solving, as well as coping skills such as perseverance and self-control. ... Recess offers a child a necessary, socially structured means for managing stress.”
And it “should not be withheld for punitive or academic reasons,” the academy said.
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