- Updated statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics reasserts "crucial role" of school recess.
- Experts say free play for kids at school is being endangered — partly by the "drive for higher test scores."
- School recess fosters physical, emotional and academic benefits for young students.
Perhaps, if you’re of a certain generation, you remember that century-old song “School Days” celebrating “Dear Old Golden Rule Days” and, alliteratively, “Reading and ‘Riting and ‘Rithmetic’?”
If that tune were penned today, a group of physicians might modify the verse to “Reading,’ ‘Riting,’ ‘Rithmetic’ …. and ‘Recess.”
A policy statement released this week from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) champions the “crucial role” of school recess.
Allowing kids to step away each day from the academic structure and rigor of the classroom — and enjoy freeform play and socialization — is highly beneficial to a child’s physical, emotional and social health, the AAP asserts.
The organization is the country’s largest professional association of pediatricians.
“Breaks offer an opportunity for students to manage stress and promote prosocial development, a universal benefit for all ages,” the AAP statement notes in its introduction.
“Recess positively impacts the teaching-learning environment and children’s mental health.”
The AAP “has always supported play — free play for kids — but it’s been increasingly threatened over time,” partly by the drive for higher test scores, Dr. Robert Murray, one of the statement’s lead authors, told the Associated Press.
“It has a very powerful benefit if it’s used to the fullest.”
Since the mid-2000s, up to 40% of school districts across the nation reduced or cut recess, according to data shared by the national child public health initiative Springboard to Active Schools.
Recess for all: Making the case
This week’s AAP recess statement updates its 2013 policy statement “The Crucial Role of Recess” declaring that recess breaks can improve children’ s attention span, behavior and social skills.
The group’s original statement added that recess should be considered “a child’s personal time” that should never be withheld as punishment for academic or behavioral reasons.
But the pandemic doubled as a case study of society unstructured by in-person school.
“Supportive adult relationships and peer engagement proved irreplaceable by the detrimental effects of their absence for children and adolescents,” according to the updated recess statement.
“Routines embedded in the school day had bolstered the equilibrium of children and adolescents but were lost during lockdown, including daily recess, with its unique combination of social and physical play.”
Recess, according to the AAP, offers daily breaks in a student’s “cognitive effort”; it’s a time to unwind.
However, not all students are participating in daily recess. “Schools with lower socioeconomic status and/or with a higher proportion of marginalized or minoritized students tend to offer less recess and are more likely to withhold it for academic or punitive reasons.”
Three core recess benefits: social, physical and academic
This week’s AAP statement identified a trio of core benefits of recess.
First, the social and emotional gains.
“Recess affords a unique time for peer-to-peer engagement,” the statement noted.
Through give-and-take play, students master social integration. In this way, students collaboratively create an inclusive, positive school culture, extending from the playground to the learning environment.”
And any educational setting such as recess that promotes social agility and interpersonal connections “help protect against victimization, substance use and poor mental health outcomes.
No surprise, recess is good for the body.
With rising trends in childhood obesity and kids spending more and more sedentary time in front of digital screens and devices, recess remains an “old school” method of getting youngsters moving.
And while today’s youth sports and other adult-managed activities are often highly structured and scheduled, recess still offers physical activity “for the sheer joy of it” — which can foster enjoyment of exercise and outdoor fun in adulthood.
“Beyond the benefits of activity on physical health, physically active play has positive impacts on cognitive processing and development of executive functions,” according to the AAP.
Research also supports the cognitive and academic benefits of school recess.
Evidence, the statement noted, supports the benefits of exercise and motor activity on brain function, attention and long-term memory.
“Even a single bout of acute exercise has been shown to foster improved learning among students, from elementary children to young adults.”
How long’s the ideal ‘recess time?’
Today, the duration of recess varies widely across U.S. schools — ranging from less than 10 minutes to more than an hour a day.
The majority of American elementary schools slot recess during the students’ lunch period — which means midday meals are often rushed or wasted so kids can hustle outside and play before the break ends, according to the AAP.
So instead, according to the statement, schools should consider offering recess before lunch.
“At minimum, recess should occur often enough and long enough, with a variety of options for students, in order to mitigate stress and allow students to regain focus before resuming classroom instruction,” the statement noted.
In countries such as Australia, Denmark, Japan and the United Kingdom, students have breaks following every hour or so of classroom instruction.
“(Students) should get a long enough period of time where they can de-stress and blow off steam and prepare for the next class,” Murray told the Associated Press.