According to the American Association for the Child’s Right
to Play, 40 percent of schools in the US
are reducing or eliminating recess or considering recess cuts. For example, Creighton
Elementary School in Phoenix
Arizona, elementary schools in Clark
Country School District
in Nevada, and elementary schools
in the Tacoma School
District in Washington
have all cut or eliminated recess. New elementary schools in Atlanta,
Georgia have even been
built without playgrounds.
Backlash Against Recess Cuts
The backlash against recess cuts has been phenomenal. The
fight against recess cuts is not new; however, the recent trend towards recess
cuts has caused the protest to increase considerably.
In 1961, the International Association for the Child’s Right
to play formed in Denmark.
As the name suggests, the association’s goal is to ensure that children retain
the right to playtime; the association adamantly advocates the need for recess.
The American Association for the Child’s Right to Play formed in 1973. In 1989, the United Nations’ Convention of
the Right of the Child adopted Article 31, which states that children have the
right to rest, leisure, play, and recreational activities. This article is
often used by the International and American Associations for the Child’s Right
to Play in order to support recess. Other organizations, including the National
Association of Early Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education,
have taken a pro-recess stance as well.
Some states have made efforts to mandate recess. In the Georgia
General Assembly, House Bill 1013, which would make recess obligatory, has been
proposed. Likewise, the Parent Teacher Association of Washington’s Tacoma
School District has released a
Proposed Recess Policy that calls for mandatory recess. The actions in Georgia
and in Tacoma were both in response
to local recess cuts.
In other states, attempts to mandate recess have already
been successful. Connecticut has passed
a bill mandating recess. In 2000, Michigan’s
State Board of Education released the Policies for Creating Effective Learning
Environments; this policy mandates daily recess or a period of physical
activity for elementary and middle school children.