Perspectives: Should Middle School Students

P E R S P E C T I V E S Should middle school students have recess?

YES

Growing up, I looked forward to recess time. At my middle school all we had was a school parking lot. We drew four squares with chalk and played competitive four-square, and we took a tennis ball and threw it up against the school wall for a game of wall-ball. It was a time to socialize and to take a break from the academic stressors. It was a time where we could just be kids.

Now, as a middle school teacher it seems that recess is the one thing that “we” teachers look to take away when a student either misbehaves, hasn’t completed a homework assignment, or the schedule needs to be rearranged for that day.

As an adult, I am constantly fi nding myself needing a break from the day. So why should we tell students they are not allowed to have this? This past fall, I decided to take one class outside at the start of class, and they all just went about doing their own thing, non-stop. When we came back in, we had one of the more productive classes ever.

On social media, I asked what people’s views of recess in middle school are and it was unanimous, “pro recess at all ages. Even as adults!” The importance of fresh air and providing our students with the opportunities to get up and move were also brought up in response to my proposed question.

Recess should not be a bargaining chip. Kids, of all ages, deserve the time to take a break from society’s expectations. They deserve the opportunity to get fresh air and to socialize with their peers and not have to worry about their home lives or what homework assignment is coming due. Even if it’s just ten-minutes every hour, we all deserve the opportunity to have movement breaks in our day, but especially middle school students.

Vanessa Evrard

Auburn EA

Some lawmakers in Rhode Island are debating a bill that would require students in grades K-5 receive at least 20 consecutive minutes of freeplay recess each day. The bill would also block school administrators from withholding recess for academic or punitive reasons. This begs the question, would recess be benefi cial for students in middle school as well?

YES, but No

Middle school students today are faced with a very different school environment from those of years gone by. Students are stressed in ways we never were at their age. Classroom assessments, district assessments, and state mandated assessments occupy far more of the school day than ever before.

Administrations want to maximize the amount of time that students spend in school and many are discussing cutting recess from the daily schedule of middle schoolers. This is a very bad idea. Students will not have time to de-stress, relax, or re-group if many administrators get their way. My administration has suggested that middle school students should maximize their time at school and not waste their time with child’s play, but instead spend their time in class, studying, learning, and taking tests.

There are so many benefi ts of recess, even at the middle level, to help students with social skills and the art of negotiation that can come from unstructured play, improvements in cognitive development, and a bit of time to decompress from the demands of rigorous standards.

However, because of the increased demands and increased testing there is not enough time to fi t in recess, even though I feel is not only a necessary, but very important part of a kid’s day.

Last week, my students took several classroom assessments, two District-wide assessments, and the practice items for the new state assessment. What if we were to stop testing our students so much and allow them to be children for a while longer? Apparently, this isn’t an option. So, even though I would like to see less testing and more time to allow students to have recess, I'm reluctant to say that middle school kids shouldn't have recess, not because it's not necessary but because there is not enough time in the day.

Phyllis Hunter Washburn EA