Recess: A Thing in the Past?
WSS Intern Minna Abdalla discusses why the school should implement a 15 minute recess into the school day.
There was always a nostalgic feeling in my stomach when someone brought up the word “recess.” The first thing that came to mind was the bright, spring school days of 2016 and the anticipation of waiting in line for the bell to ring. Letting the half-asleep students know it’s time to go out. The cool breeze flowing through everyone’s hair, giving us a tingling sensation. Seeing the kids in the corner of the playground, playing pretend family, and making dinner with the wet mud from rain that trickled earlier in the day. The “athletic” kids playing kickball on the blacktop. The sound of the whistle blowing, signaling it’s time to go to class, with fresh and restored minds. Unfortunately, it’s all a thing in the past, but does it have to be?
Recently, there has been an increase in high school students experiencing stress, depression, and burnout from school, due to the accumulation of pressure around them from extracurriculars and exceeding in academics. According to an article by Gitnux, 51 percent of United States teens are told at least once a month that they appear stressed or burnt out. Although there might not be a way to solve this issue, there is a way to ease it: recess. Having recess for high school students gives them time to unplug from various sources of stress throughout the day. Time to get fresh air and relax, and socialize with friends without the fear of getting in trouble. Most importantly, it allows students to be willing to learn more and take in information a lot better.
It has only been my first year of high school and I am constantly feeling stressed and uneasy throughout and after the school day. After a couple of periods, I usually don’t feel motivated to learn, and the only thing I can think about is how I’m going to manage my time after school. How I’m going to be able to go to practice, come back and eat then complete the piles of homework waiting for me to comb through. I have lunch and AFT to take a break, but do I really? Jay Sainsbury ‘25 adds on how AFT isn’t enough.
A simple solution to this problem is recess or a break during the school day. According to the CDC, having recess increases students’ physical activity and improves their memory, attention and concentration. The Voice of Play also adds that after recess, 81 percent of teachers said that kids’ behaviors changed positively. These changes included more positive moods and longer attention spans. Fewer behavior issues and increased participation in class with more eagerness to learn as well as improved academic performance. Having recess throughout the day will enable students to focus and not stress too much about everything else that is going on in life, and give them time to just relax.
A survey done with West High students on their thoughts of having recess showed that 75.1 percent of students agreed on having it. And only 18.8 percent disagreed with the idea. The survey showed that many students wanted recess for the same reasons, stress from school and just the need of a break throughout the day. Emily Rabe ‘26 even added how a recess would be useful to just unwind throughout the day.
People may ask though, how will we take time during the day to have recess? Or how do we know students aren’t going to be on their phones?
To answer the first question we could take time out of each class, 2 minutes from each class and a minute from AFT for a total of 15 minutes allocated towards a break. This break could be right after lunch, and by having it this way, students have it at separate times instead of the whole school having it at once. Recess also wouldn’t be every day so it doesn’t mess up students’ schedules too much. Instead, the break would be implemented once or twice a week.
Secondly, to ensure people don’t use the whole break on their phones students will have the option to go outside or even hang out in the gym. If you look around during lunch you can see that most people are not even on their phones because they are either socializing or eating. If people do end up using their phones anyways, there is no problem with that either because it is their time to unplug and relax.
Recess, a thing in the past? It doesn’t have to be, it can be a thing of the present and future high school generations. It can be a source to allow students to unwind and unplug from the mounds of stress throughout the day. It can help students reset their minds and be ready to learn more and better. Although it might not be the recess that we remember, it will still be a recess that unlocks memories in the future.
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