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Recess isn’t merely a playful interlude for schoolchildren; it’s essential for their overall well-being and academic performance across all age groups.
This is emphasized by a prominent group of pediatricians, which has unveiled new recommendations regarding this unstructured school time, the first update in 13 years, stressing its importance and the need for its preservation.
The American Academy of Pediatrics’ refreshed policy statement emerges amidst a backdrop of diminishing recess opportunities and declining child health statistics.
According to Dr. Robert Murray, a principal author, while the organization has consistently advocated for children’s free play, this crucial time has faced growing threats, often sacrificed for the pursuit of higher test scores. “Recess offers significant advantages when fully utilized,” he noted.
Published on Monday in the journal Pediatrics, the new guidelines build on the previous statement, incorporating recent studies that highlight why such breaks are vital for children’s educational success and their mental, physical, social, and emotional development.
For example, new evidence shows that kids need pauses between concentrated bouts of learning so the brain can hold and store the information. Researchers also say recess gives kids a chance to navigate relationships and build confidence, which is just as important for older kids as younger ones.
Murray and his colleagues also stressed the importance of physical activity in preventing obesity, a condition that now affects about 1 in 5 U.S. children and teens.
Given these benefits, they recommend that recess be protected and never withheld for academic or punitive reasons, as sometimes happens in schools.
“If the child is disruptive or rude and disrespectful, recess is one of the things that teachers use to punish kids,” Murray said, adding that students struggling with behavioral issues or grades are often the ones who need recess most.
But those students aren’t the only ones losing out. Recess has been waning for all kids. Since the mid-2000s, up to 40% of school districts nationally have reduced or eliminated recess, according to data from the group Springboard to Active Schools in collaboration with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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 pediatrics group said. Older kids generally get less time than younger ones.
Ideally, studies show, kids should get a minimum of 20 minutes a day and multiple breaks. In other countries such as Denmark, Japan and the United Kingdom, students get breaks after every 45 minutes to 50 minutes of classroom instruction.
“They should get a long enough period of time where they can de-stress and blow off steam and prepare for the next class,” Murray said.
Dr. Lauren Fiechtner, a childhood obesity expert at Mass General Brigham for Children in Boston, said she’s glad about the updated recess recommendations. She’s seen the importance of recess as both a doctor and mother of two. She recalled how her 8-year-old son learned how to play basketball at recess and now loves the game.
Fiechtner, who wasn’t involved in creating the guidance, agrees with the recommendation that middle and high school students need recess, too.
“As kids get older, they’re more on their screens. So it’s really helpful, I think, for outdoor activity and recess to be happening,” she said. “Recess is great. We all kind of need recess.”
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