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SOCIETY WATCH: Recess, Field Trips, and Other School Activities
Sledding Banned During Recess
Jo Collins Mathis, Ann Arbor News, February 10, 2007
A sledding accident “in which an elementary school student suffered a concussion … has led to a sledding ban during recess at all Ann Arbor (MI) schools.” “Many children” are disappointed by the ban, relates Sarah Clark, a parent of one Ann Arbor elementary student. Another child of hers broke his arm while playing “'Duck, Duck, Goose'” in the fourth grade, to which Clark states: “’We certainly didn't expect the district to cancel (physical education) class because of that ….’” Ann Arbor ’s ban follows a 2003 initiative “which encouraged recess games that were less competitive, more inclusive and utilized different kinds of physical skills.” Clark says about the initiative: “’I do understand the legal end of it, but they are placing more and more limits on what kids are allowed to do …. You're never going to get all parents to agree on anything. But when you make those kinds of decisions at the district level, it feels very restrictive.'" article »
Options Sought to D.C. Journey
Ted LaBorde, Republican (Springfield, MA), January 12, 2007
Eighth-grade students at Powder Mill Middle School in Southwick, MA, had their trip to Washington, DC, cancelled this year due to a lack of teachers willing to chaperone the excursion. Ronald W. Peloquin, the school’s principal, relates that “an adequate number of parents ha[d] volunteered and more inquired about helping after” the announcement of the trip’s cancellation, but that “teachers are needed because of security and liability requirements.” He states: “‘Parents are a great help, but without teachers we cannot hold the trip ….’” article »
The Declining Role of Physical Education
Matt Tait, Basehor Sentinel, January 3, 2007
Matt Tait of the Basehor Sentinel (KS) writes that “[a]lthough the most recent developments in the (over-protectiveness) movement have centered on playground games and recess, the overall trend has crept its way indoors, as well.” The movement that has discouraged running on playgrounds and banned traditional recess games, he explains, “has made itself visible through the declining importance of physical education classes throughout the country. Once a required part of the curriculum at every school, P.E. classes have been pushed to the backburner in the past several years and are no longer required the way they used to be.” Funding cuts and “an increased emphasis on math, science and reading” have played roles as well. Susan King of the University of Kansas relates: "‘Educators look down the roll and say ‘What can we cut[?]' …. Immediately, they see P.E. classes and they say, ‘Playing games can't be that important.' There's less time, less funding and ill-prepared teachers surrounding Physical Education today. And I think the trend will continue until the country determines there's an actual economic impact on the decline in physical activity of our children. Money is king.’” article »
Harvard Study Finds Major Energy Gap Contributes to Obesity Among U.S. Teens
Harvard School of Public Health, December 4, 2006
"America's overweight teens consumed an average of 700 to 1,000 calories more than required each day over a 10-year period,” reports a press release on a new study by the Harvard School of Public Health. “This ‘energy gap’ or the imbalance between the number of calories children consumed each day and the number they required to support normal growth, physical activity, and body function – resulted in an average of 58 extra pounds for overweight teens.” The study was the first to look at the “energy gap” among children and youth and was published in the journal Pediatrics. Y. Claire Wang, the researcher who led the study, says: "‘Our research indicates that early prevention may be critical.’” Thus, “strategies to prevent excess weight gain from occurring during childhood may be more effective than attempting to treat overweight teens.” To close the “energy gap,” the study suggests “longer and more frequent physical education classes,” “[r]educing the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages,” “[c]onsuming less fast food,” and “[d]ecreasing time spent watching TV as a way to increase physical activity.” press release »
Give the Kids a Break
Steve Rushin, Sports Illustrated, December 4, 2006
Sports Illustrated’s Steve Rushin is the latest columnist to mourn the loss of recess – “the fabled fourth R” – in America. Writing for the December 4th issue of the magazine, he relates: “Four square and seven years ago we had recess: 20 minutes, twice a day, of Darwinian contests whose very names king of the hill, capture the flag, keep-away, dodgeball screamed survival of the fittest. … Most of these games were passed down like heirlooms. They crossed continents and centuries with only small modifications, surviving into the modern age with names such as duck, duck, goose; Mother, may I; and Miss Mary Mack. … Pity, then, that none of these games may survive the decade, and for one deeply depressing reason: Red rover, red rover, recess is over.” As other reporters and essayists have done, Rushin cites “increased preparation for standardized tests,” “fear of injury,” “playground bullies,” and “fear of lawsuits” as the reasons “[20] to 30 percent of schools offer 15 or fewer minutes of daily recess.” Of this sad statistic, Rushin notes: “Lifers at Leavenworth get more time in the exercise yard.” If Teamsters break for “two 15-minute [periods] per shift,” he concludes, “[s]urely seven-year-olds deserve to do the same.”
Recess Gets Squeezed at Some Schools
Beth Quimby, Portland Press Herald, November 13, 2006
Beth Quimby of the Portland Press Herald reports that while Willett Elementary’s (Attleboro, MA) recent decision to “ban[ ] games of tag and touch football from the playground” became a “national story,” “many Maine schools have quietly put a stop to all chase games that involve physical contact.” Moreover, she relates that recess itself “is disappearing from the public school landscape” – due, in part, to “the risk of liability.” Mellisa Clawson of the University of Maine at Farmington tells Quimby that “[r]ecess has been shrinking by about five minutes a year” and that “[w]hile 20 years ago most elementary school children could count on two 40-minute play breaks a day, today a 20-minute-lunch followed by 20 minutes of recess is the standard in Maine.” “‘It is insane,’” Clawson says. “‘It takes [children] 10 to 15 minutes to really get into constructive play….’” And constructive play, Professor Clawson argues, along with Professors Dianne Hoff and Sydney Mitchell of the University of Maine in Orono, is of tremendous educational value to children. "‘In a game like tag,’” Mitchell tells Quimby, “‘they learn cooperation, language development and conflict resolution’” – “skills children can only fully develop without adult intervention and (which) will serve them well later on as adults in the business world.” Hoff adds that, in a state like Maine, where the population is less dense, “playground time may be [children’s] only opportunity to associate freely with other children.”
Ban on Tag, Other Activities Makes Anti-Obesity Effort Ring Hollow
Portland Press Herald, October 24, 2006
The Portland Press Herald directly links the growing trend to ban tag and other contact games during recess and America’s childhood obesity problem. Discussing Willett Elementary’s decision to ban tag in particular, the paper writes: “Reportedly, the fear of injury (and, implicitly, the legal liability that would impose on the school systems) is the reason for the ban. The school's concerns may be real enough, but they nonetheless comprise a sad commentary on our society – and our efforts to combat obesity in children. It's hard to ban exercise on the one hand and complain about overweight kids on the other, but that's just exactly what this decision has accomplished.” Not only do recess games “help[ ] kids avoid putting on weight,” the paper argues, but they “keep kids' minds going” in the classroom as well by allowing them to expend pent-up energy. “Letting worries about [bumps and bruises] keep kids from active play is a mistake,” the paper concludes, “and a big one, too.”
Schools Ruling Out Fun on Playground, Critics Say
Maria Sacchetti, Boston Globe, October 23, 2006
Reporting on the "uproar" caused by Willett Elementary School officials' recent decision to enforce a ban on tag during recess, Maria Sacchetti of the Boston Globe writes that the nationwide reaction "reflects the passionate feelings about child’s play." "In the past 20 years," she relates, "school systems in the Bay State and around the nation have increasingly imposed restrictions on play, determined to prevent serious injury and lawsuits that can follow an accident. Several Massachusetts schools have been sued by parents whose children were injured at school in recent years.” She quotes Common Good Executive Director Franklin H. Stone who argues that the “regulation of play,” which, in part, has reduced the size and scope of slides and swings, “ha[s] become too strict over the past two decades.” “‘I'll even defend the see-saw,’” says Ms. Stone. "‘I'll tell you what you learn from the see-saw. You learn about working with other people.’” The president of the Hanlon Elementary School parent-teacher organization, John Cummings, would probably agree. He states, commenting on the 29 playground rules listed in the Westwood, MA’s school handbook: "‘It's a shame that we've come to the point where you have to put all these rules down when kids play …. I think they should let kids fall down, get up, dust themselves off, and get right back on.'" article »
Common Sense in Recess
News-Journal (Daytona Beach, FL), October 23, 2006
The News-Journal (Daytona Beach, FL) looks at the growing trend of schools banning contact sports during recess and argues: “There's a new bully in schools: overregulation.” “[I]n a litigious climate,” the paper explains, “schools try to limit claims as much as possible. Eliminating some risk of injury on the playground translates into reduced claims. And it diminishes playground supervisors' look-out duties. But pupils aren't actuarial variables. They're in school to learn, and some of their learning takes place on the playground. Schools aren't doing their students favors by overly controlling their environment.” The paper lauds the experimental effort of one local middle school principal who is “go[ing] against the trend of cutting back on less structured activities” and, for two periods every Wednesday, is offering her students the opportunity to engage in such activities as arts and crafts, poetry writing, checkers – and touch football. “The idea,” the paper writes,”[i]s to add to pupils' learning experiences, even if those entail activities not everyone has aptitude for: If touch football is exclusionary or too rough for some, it is also more inclusionary to those who might not feel so included in, say, algebra class.”
Two More Schools Ban Tag
MetroWest Daily News (Framingham, MA) and KGWN-TV (Cheyenne, WY), October 20, 2006
You can add McCarthy Elementary in Framingham, MA, and Freedom Elementary in Cheyenne, WY, to the list of schools that have banned tag, "the age-old schoolyard game." Students at McCarthy, MetroWest Daily News reports, have "invent[ed] their own no-contact version of the game to get around a rule requiring that they do not touch each other." At Freedom, administrators “no longer allow[ ] children to play [tag] because they say the game may be too dangerous for the kids." And, as KGWN-TV explains, "schools all across the country are moving in this direction as schools take measures to limit their liability for injuries sustained on the playground." Framingham article » Cheyenne article »
Students Dodge Tag Ban
Chrissie Thompson, Washington Times, October 19, 2006
The recent ban on playing tag during recess at Willett Elementary in Attleboro, MA, has drawn the criticism of current and past IPA/USA representatives. In an article in The Washington Times, Audrey Skrupskelis, the current board president of IPA/USA, “a nongovernmental organization dedicated to children's right to play,” argues: “‘It’s important for kids to be able to take some risks because if we try to protect them from every available risk, they don’t learn coping mechanisms …. In terms of large-muscle coordination and movement, these are the games that burn calories in terms of the weight kids are putting on …. Of course, we want to provide a safe environment for our kids, but no one grew up without a scraped knee.’” Rhonda Clements, IPA/USA’s former president, agrees, “call[ing] the movement to ban tag ‘absolutely ridiculous.’” “’We’re creating a generation of children that are no longer decision-makers as to their own play activities,’” she continues. “‘You're basically telling children that we don’t trust their ability to play and not lose their temper.’” Ms. Clements, now an education professor at Manhattanville College in New York, was a panelist at Common Good’s Value of Play conference in May 2006. article »
Not It! Mass. Elementary School Bans Tag
Associated Press, October 18, 2006
“[F]or fear they'll get hurt and hold the school liable,” administrators at Willett Elementary School in Attleboro, MA, “have banned kids from playing tag, touch football and any other unsupervised chase game during recess.” And as The Associated Press relates, this is just the latest rule to affect school recess. A few years back, Attleboro school officials “took aim at dodgeball … saying it was exclusionary and dangerous.” Bans on tag have also been recently put into effect at elementary schools in Cheyenne, WY, and Spokane, WA. And outside Charleston, SC, a school has banned “all unsupervised contact sports.” At least one Willett Elementary parent is unhappy with the school’s decision. Debbie Laferriere tells the AP: “‘I think that it’s unfortunate that kids’ lives are micromanaged and there are social skills they’ll never develop on their own …. Playing tag is just part of being a kid.’”
Rethinking Recess
Anne Marie Chaker, Wall Street Journal, October 10, 2006
Anne Marie Chaker of the Wall Street Journal reports on the American Academy of Pediatrics’ report, “The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds,” by focusing on school recess, asking: “Does recess deserve to get a reprieve?” With federal statistics showing that less than a third of children in grades one through six get more than 15 minutes of recess a day, she writes: “Schools have been trimming fixed periods of unstructured playtime for years, citing mounting pressure from federal-testing requirements and concerns over playground accidents that can lead to lawsuits. Now, national groups representing parents and pediatricians are stepping in to champion more playtime, as a growing body of research points to the benefits of the kind of free play that can't be found in gym class.” One superintendent Chaker spoke to, who eliminated morning recess from the elementary schools in his district due to testing concerns, “encourages teachers and students to incorporate more physical activity into regular class periods” in order to compensate for the lost playtime. But pediatrician Dr. Kenneth Ginsburg, the lead author of the AAP report, argues that there is a difference between physical activity and play. He states: "‘Play allows a creative outlet for children to build confidence, master their environment and try things out on their own …. It's so important to children's resiliency that I am seriously worried if toe touches are replacing that.’" Studies also show that the play students engage in during recess actually boosts their school performance. Chaker writes: “One Atlanta-area study … observed fourth-grade classes on days with and without 20-minute recess breaks. Researchers found that after the breaks, students on the whole were more focused and less fidgety.” Yet, as Chaker explains: “States generally require schools to teach a certain amount of time per day or hours per year. Recess usually doesn't get counted as instructional time, so school administrators can more easily make a case for nixing it. Also, liability and lawsuit concerns over accidents, fights and bullying give schools additional incentives to eliminate it ….” article »
Harried Parents Urged to Let Their Kids Just Play
Associated Press, October 9, 2006
“[W]hat children really need for healthy development is more good, old-fashioned playtime,” writes the Associated Press, relating the key finding of a new report by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Unstructured play, the report states, “can help children become creative, discover their own passions, develop problem-solving skills, relate to others and adjust to school settings.” On the other hand, “[a] lack of spontaneous playtime can create stress for children and parents alike,” as well as “increase [children’s] risks for obesity” and “contribute to depression.” The report cites, among other factors, the over-scheduling of kids and the scarcity of “safe places to play” in “low-income, violence prone neighborhoods” as contributing to today’s lack of quality children’s play. article » AAP report »
Measures to Stem Childhood Obesity Are Found Lacking
Besty McKay, Wall Street Journal, September 14, 2006
“The federal government, food industry and others have made too little progress in stemming a growing tide of childhood obesity, and more money, measures and leadership are needed, according to a new report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM),” writes Betsy McKay of The Wall Street Journal. Obesity rates continue to rise, she relates, despite “a study the IOM released in 2004 concluding that a broad collaborative effort in which government, industry, schools, parents and others would each adopt measures would be needed to turn the tide of childhood obesity.” Recommendations from the latest report include: “increased funding for prevention and control programs that have been proven effective,” “evaluations of implemented antiobesity programs to determine best practices,” and “more physical-activity programs in schools.” article » IOM report »
Slides Didn't Used to Be Child's Play
Ben Bromley, Baraboo News Republic (Sauk County, WI), August 2006
On a recent return visit to his elementary school, Ben Bromley of Wisconsin’s News Republic found that “much had changed” – particularly to the school’s playground. He writes: “[T]he playground is not a school of hard knocks anymore. They've installed rubber pads and wood chips beneath all the equipment. Not that there's any real risk of danger anymore, anyway. The highest slides and monkey bars are gone, no doubt a casualty of these litigious times when school districts spend more on liability insurance than pencils.” While he “supposes” that changes to the playground are reflective of “progress,” Bromley “wonder[s] if kids are missing out on something by not coming up the hard way.” “They’ll never know,” he relates as an example, “the skill required to zip down a metal slide in late August without searing one’s flesh.”
Saying Good-Bye to Recess
Detroit News, August 21, 2006
“‘It’s a very foolish trend,’” Michigan Board of Education President Kathleen Straus tells the Detroit News of the increasing removal and threatened removal of recess from American – including Michigan – schools. While the state does not require recess, the Board has, she notes, developed a nonbinding policy recommending against its elimination. In some places, the paper reports, “money is the reason” behind its removal. “But in some states, the driving force has been fear of lawsuits – injuries from climbing on those jungle gyms that are, for the most part, disappearing from schoolyards anyhow.” Quoting a Michigan parent of two, the paper relates, “‘I think the kids would be very sad not to have recess. More to the point, with a mother’s wisdom, she adds, ‘You’d lose attention span.’”
Competition Is Eschewed in New Fitness Initiatives
Matthew Chayes, New York Sun, July 5, 2006
“As city officials roll out initiatives to help the Big Apple's youngest slim down, the activities they're picking are increasingly discouraging competition,” writes the New York Sun. Lori Benson, the Department of Education’s director of fitness and physical education, states, explaining why dodgeball and tag have been replaced by such activities as pilates and African dance, "‘Just imagine how a student feels, consistently being the first one out in a game of tag.’" The Sun goes on to relate, however, that a “[n]ew-age physical education philosophy might not be the only factor pushing schools to abandon competitive, risky games like dodgeball.” “Several years ago,” they write, “the parents of a second-grader sued an upstate school district near Binghamton after their daughter fractured her arm during a class dodgeball game. The litigation prompted the Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance to warn: ‘If you are using dodgeball, beware!’” article »
Fatty, Porky, Tubby
Alexander McCall Smith, New York Times, December 15, 2005
An op-ed in the New York Times bemoans that “the whole culture of cotton-wool with which we have surrounded the bringing up of children” is contributing to society’s growing problem of childhood obesity by discouraging children from active, creative play. “Physical activity of all sorts is cancelled or discouraged because children might be harmed,” writes Alexander McCall Smith. “Playgrounds are closed or made unattractive because all potential risk is removed. And all the time that horrendous sterilizer of the imagination, television, destroys the ability of children to play creatively.” In the end, he warns, “[i]f we kill play, we kill culture.”
School Tries to Discourage Sledding
Associated Press, November 30, 2005
Continuing a nationwide trend of legal fear trumping fun, administrators at Cathedral High School/John XXIII Middle School in St. Cloud, MN recently installed an orange plastic fence at the bottom of a hill that, in years past, had been popular for sledding. "‘It’s unfortunate, but it is a liability, and we have to address it that way,’" said the school’s president. article »
High Schools Address the Cruelest Cut
Eli Saslow, Washington Post, August 22, 2005
In the increasingly competitive and pressure-filled world of high school sports, coaches dread having to cut players from the team. Legal threats can make that job even harder and can even turn coaching into a bureaucratic exercise. The Washington Post reports: "For the first time this season, Severna Park (MD) Athletic Director Wayne Mook required his coaches to record running times and player evaluation grades, then hand in that paperwork to him. It is an arduous process that many coaches find tiresome, but Mook instituted it for a reason: After a player was cut from the girls' lacrosse team last spring, the family hired lawyers to meet with the school." article »
Playtime Is Over
Dallas Morning News, March 2005
In Plano, TX, the last remaining swing sets have been removed from public schoolyards--"a nod to concerns that playful kids will hurt themselves." Argues a Dallas Morning News editorial, "'Twas a time when kids could be kids, could scrape a knee or bruise an elbow without inspiring a policy change or a lawsuit. ... Maybe, just maybe, we're being a bit too protective of our children, not letting kids be kids for fear of bad consequences. It's ironic that we want kids to run and jump, to get in shape, to spend more time outside instead of in front of a television set or video game." But school officials have little choice when every accident can lead to a lawsuit--costly to defend even if the school ultimately prevails.
High Blood Pressure: The New Childhood Scourge
Janice Billingsley, USA Today, January 10, 2005
A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association reports a "strong upward shift in blood pressure levels among 5,582 children, aged 8 to 18, who were tracked for the last 16 years." The study's lead author, Paul Munter, said the results were disconcerting because "one of the strongest predictors of heart disease in adults is high blood pressure in childhood." Obesity, poor diets and lack of exercise were all cited as causes of increased blood pressure in children. Munter recommends that parents, among other things, encourage their children exercise. But too often, the widespread fear of being sued and the refusal to accept reasonable risks is robbing children of recreational opportunities: playgrounds are made less fun, diving boards are removed, sledding is banned. article »
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