Should You Get Recess?

You’ve just finished your lunch when the bell rings. So you grab your stuff and dash—not to your next class, but outside for recess!

If this sounds like a daydream, it’s probably because you’re like most middle schoolers in the U.S.: You don’t get recess. But that’s starting to change. Some schools are adding the break to their daily schedules.

Middle schoolers in Fairfax County, Virginia, for example, get a 15-minute midday recess. Students can kick a soccer ball around or shoot hoops. Some play touch football while others cheer them on. And many just hang out with friends.

Some people see recess as a much-needed break from the pressures of schoolwork. But others say that learning to succeed without recess prepares middle schoolers for high school and beyond.

What do you think? Read arguments on both sides, then decide for yourself.

Recess used to be thought of as something only little kids needed. But research shows that it’s good for older students too. For one thing, kids ages 6 to 17 need at least 60 minutes of physical activity every day, health experts say. Yet most middle schoolers fall far short of that goal.

That’s part of the reason students at Oceanside Middle School in Oceanside, New York, get a recess period after lunch. “We want to always model for students how they can live a physically active lifestyle,” the school principal, Allison Glickman-Rogers, has said. Not having recess, she added, “misrepresented what we know and believe is good for kids.”

Unstructured daily breaks also benefit students mentally and socially, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Teens get to focus on having fun and building friendships without a teacher directing their interactions. That independence helps them develop “lifelong skills . . . for communication, negotiation, cooperation, sharing, problem solving, and coping,” the AAP reports.

Ben Kosowski is an eighth-grader in Fairfax County, Virginia. He uses his recess to relax and talk with friends. Ben says having that time to clear his head makes it easier to work harder in class afterward. “It makes me more focused,” he explains.

Middle school is called “middle” for a reason: It’s a transition from the basic activities and skills of the elementary years to the more demanding pace of high school and beyond. And recess, some people argue, is one of the things schools should drop as they shift young teens’ focus to new educational, social, and time-management skills.

“They are trying to prepare us for high school,” explains Adeline Wolk, an Illinois eighth-grader. “[We need] time to study for our current classes, which are good preparation for the more difficult classes we’ll encounter in high school.”

Plus, adding recess to the school day often means having to cut something else. At the middle school where Dawn Rappold teaches in Bradenton, Florida, students get recess twice daily. But as a result, they have a shortened lunch period and only 3 minutes to get from class to class. “There is only so much time in the school day, and every minute is precious,” Rappold says.

Safety is another concern. Nearly one-third of U.S. middle schoolers experience bullying, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. During unstructured periods such as recess, fights can break out and even play can quickly get out of hand. “Middle schoolers are growing rapidly,” Rappold points out. “They can easily hurt themselves or each other.”