Florida should be game for recess

For children stuck in class all day, recess is a blessing.

It allows them to run and play without a bunch of rules, then return to class more refreshed and focused.

But because of competing demands, schools have gotten away from providing “free play” recess, despite studies showing the benefit.

So we support a Florida Senate bill that would require 20 minutes a day of recess for kids in elementary school. In reality, we could all use 20 minutes a day of playtime. Certainly our children need the release.

The bill has sailed through the Senate, easily passing its committee stops. But in the House, it’s threatened by amendments that would require recess only on days when physical education classes are not held — and only for children in Kindergarten through third grade.

The Senate bill is the better choice. Yes, the state requires elementary schools to provide 150 minutes of physical education a week. But while structured activities are important, kids also need time to play.

A recent report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services agrees. It says recess not only increases childrens’ physical activity, it also improves their memory, attention and concentration. And it helps them stay on-task in the classroom, reduces disruptive behavior and improves their social and emotional development.

DOH recommends children receive at least an hour a day of physical activity. And though that 150-minute requirement works out to 30 minutes a day, schools don’t actually offer phys ed every day. So some days, students get no physical activity.

Offering 20 minutes of daily recess would keep our children active, healthy and better ready to learn.

Broward Superintendent Robert Runcie told the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board that he “absolutely believes students should have the opportunity for physical education and recess — and those are two different things.”

He says it’s tough to fit recess into school days packed with state-mandated requirements, including required hours for core subjects and test prep. He wishes the state would reconsider “the number of mandates that encroach on instructional time in the school day.”

But if a way can be found to provide recess, he’s all for it. “There have been numerous studies that show it can be a very positive thing for our students,” he said.

The House overwhelmingly supported the recess bill last year, passing it 112-2, while the Senate didn’t hold a vote. But this year, because of redistricting and term limits, a third of the 120-member House is new, as is half of the 40-member Senate. So the landscape has changed.

After last year’s defeat, Angela Browning — an Orlando parent and selfdescribed “recess mom” — pushed the Orange County School Board to require recess. And school board members agreed, making Orange the third district in Florida to mandate 20 minutes of recess a day.

To get there, the district eliminated 10 minutes from reading, given that it exceeded the required number of hours there. It also eliminated five minutes from math and five minutes from lunch. Lunch is now 25 minutes instead of 30.

“It fit right in our current school day without having to sacrifice anything, and we still meet all the mandates,” Browning said.

No single time-carving solution would work for all schools, but 20 minutes a day isn’t asking too much.

Critics might note that 300 low-performing elementary schools — including 79 in South Florida — have been forced to extend the school day by an hour to focus on reading. How can they be expected to add recess, too?

But there’s growing evidence that a longer school day isn’t the answer for lowperforming schools. A recent Department of Education study found that while reading had improved in these schools, the size of the increase is what would have been expected over the year, even without the extra hour. More important, it said, are the quality of teachers and their daily plans.

Recess helps students perform better in class, and could help students in lower-performing schools, too.

Giving kids a 20-minute breather to recharge and refocus is a no-brainer.

Yes, the state requires elementary schools to provide 150 minutes of physical education a week. But while structured activities are important, kids also need time to play.