Quote 5

The quote, “Many children today go home after school and sit in front of the television rather than play outside,” was given by Dirk Johnson, a writer for the New York Times. Johnsons quote was shared in an article for adoption.com’s artile titled, “No Recess Policies Being Implemented in U.S. School Districts.”

This quote is important, because it gives even more reasoning as to why schools need to keep recess and gym classes. Childhood obesity has been caused due to many environmental factors, but schools are one place that could help make positive changes in children’s lives. During the week, most children spend a majority of their time at school and at home. Parents are usually both at work, until the evening, and that schedule is becoming common in many families. If children are coming home after school with no parental supervision, they will likely be home alone or with a babysitter. Children know they can get away with more actions when their parents are not home. Even if parents set up “rules” for what their children can or cannot eat, kids will find a way to bend the rules and eat whatever junk they want.

Of course not every child is in that type of situation, but many are. In order to guarantee SOME physical activity in children each day, school is a great place to start. Plus, children will enjoy playing and getting some exercise at school, because they will be doing it with friends. Studies show that children are most attentive after recess, which is just one more reason why schools need to take some action in the fight of childhood obesity.

Quote 4

“Many schools responded to the No Child Left Behind by reducing the time for recess, the creative arts, and physical education in an effort to focus on reading and mathematics,” is a quote that was given by Dr. Romina M. Barros. Dr. Barros is a clinical professor of pediatrics at Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, and has conducted several studies on the effects of recess on school children. Most recently, Dr. Barros came to a conclusion that school children who receive more recess behave better, and are likely to learn more. When children are giving a break in their day, they have time to refresh themselves, burn off some energy, and also have some time to be physically active. Some children do not like gym classes, because they feel like they are being forced to move. When on the playground, children have the freedom to run around, and feel like they are making decisions on their own. Unfortunately, recess is the first thing school officials took away when they redesigned their school year, because they felt it took up too much time from the classroom. However, doesn’t it make more sense that children learn more efficiently when they have some time to play and be active for 30 minutes? Of course it does, because children will begin to doze off in class, become restless and even start trouble to keep things entertaining if they do not have a break for fun. Learning is very important, but the information will only be absorbed by children who pay attention, and children are shown to be most attentive after recess. Giving children time to play will also get them excited to move and be physically active, so hopefully they will continue to enjoy physical activity outside of school.

Quote 3

The quote, “These schools are demonstrating that when the health of students is made a top priority, scheduling at least 30 minutes of physical activity every day can be done. In addition, they are confirming the research that tells us physically active kids perform better in school,” comes from the Secretary of Health, Everette James. He shared this quote after visiting two middle schools in Southeast Pennsylvania that committed to exercising for 30 minutes every school day for one year. When he visited the two schools, James congratulated them on their success, and for providing evidence on how important it is for students to be physically active in school.

After the research was completed, the two schools were presented with a plaque, and were recognized for improvements they made in annual fitness assessments. The biggest reward for these kids, however, was that they felt better physically and also made improvements in their school work. Bringing just 30 minutes of physical activity to school children will help address the childhood obesity epidemic as well. According to a recent survey conducted by the Pennsylvania middle schools around the state, only about 38% of the students get 30 minutes of daily activity. Not having the time to be physically active will eventually take a toll on these children’s lives. Overweight children have an increased risk of heath issues as adults, including diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, arthritis, and cancer. After these two Pennsylvania middle schools have proven the positive outcome of daily physical activity, hopefully other schools nationwide will catch on to this program.

Quote 2

The quote, “Schools have great opportunities to help pupils to learn how to promote health and minimize the risk of acquiring a chronic disease. Providing a healthy structure to their day should enable them to develop healthier lifestyles that may track in adulthood,” was given by Maureen Dobbins, who is lead researcher at the School of Nursing in Ontario, Canada. When I read the article, “School based physical activity: Has benefits even if it doesn’t help lose weight” in the NewsRX magazine, I strongly agreed with Dobbins. She is behind research that shows school based programs gave students time to exercise, and found school programs also gave them motivation from the teachers and available materials. I am someone who wants to see schools getting more involved with student’s health. School teaches a range of life lessons from home economics to computers, but does not spend much time focusing on classes that promote and teach healthy lifestyles. Sure health classes and gym classes are usually required, but why not teach students as part of their daily routine. For example, allowing elementary aged students to go out for recess will get them excited to play, and become more physically active outside school, because they have so much fun being active at school. Teachers could share healthy tips on nutritional information, and the importance of staying in a healthy weight range. Schools should not try to scare or force the students into learning more about their health, but should make it fun and do it regularly. This way, students can feel comfortable about taking better care of themselves, and hopefully would turn physical activity into a daily routine.

Quote 1

I found the quote, “We are intent on improving academic performance. You don’t do that by having kids hanging on the monkey bars,” to be somewhat understandable for anyone that first reads it. The quote was found from my first source, “play with a purpose,” and was given by Atlanta Georgia’s superintendent of 1998. When someone first thinks of improving academic performance, they would not likely picture children running around playing on the playground at recess time. However, if someone who has done their research on physically active school children, they would know this quote is untrue. Many studies have been shown that recess improves children’s ability to concentrate on school work. Also, recess reduces the chances that children will be restless and disturbing others in the classroom. This Georgia superintendent, along with other schools around America, believe that recess is taking away time to learn. True, recess takes time out of the day to be inside the classroom, but the benefits will return. For example, a school teacher in Atlanta Georgia took a few minutes of classroom time each morning to get his students moving. Even on test days, this teacher, Christopher Gomillion, would follow his routine of physical activity. The theory of having some fun dancing to music before the lessons started in the morning was that children would be more attentive. Burning some energy did in fact pay off to the students. When the annual standardized testing scores came back, Mr. Gomillion saw some outstanding results. All but one of his students passed, which was a huge improvement compared to the past year’s students. I feel that the quote given by Atlanta’s superintendent is one that has no research or thought behind it, and that he was just speaking his first opinion.

Source 8: school recess improves classroom behavior

“Daily School Recess Improves Classroom Behavior.” Barros et al. School recess and

 group classroom behavior. Pediatrics. 1 Feb. 2009. Web. Mar. 2011.

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090126173835.html.

“Daily School Recess Improves Classroom Behavior” is an article written by Dr. Romina Barros. He shares his study on elementary school children, and recess time. The study suggests that a 15 minute or more break in the day for children to play, improves their learning, social skills, and health. Unstructured play also gives children a chance to de-stress, and get to know their peers. Since the No Child Left behind Act of 2001, many schools have taken away recess time to focus on classroom learning. However, Dr. Barros shares why this gives a disadvantage to students, rather than an advantage. Overall, he feels that we need to restructure our educational systems in the U.S. so that children can develop and learn to their full potential.

I found this article, “Daily School Recess Improves Classroom Behavior,” online at sciencedaily.com. It is a website that shares the latest research news, and this article originally came from Pediatrics magazine.  This article is very reputable, because it is the results that came out of a study done by Romina M. Barros, M.D., assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at Einstein. Barros knows a lot of information regarding children because of his background in pediatrics, but also has proof of his reputability from the study he conducted. January 2009 was when the article got published, but it is not listed geographically where it was written. One cultural bias that the Barros feels is the idea of the 2001 No Child Left behind Act being the reason why so many schools have eliminated recess. The schools want to focus on classroom learning time, and some feel that recess is a waste of that time. Barros believes the NCLB act is a reason why our society has changed.  Sources used by the article include: the study conducted by Dr.Barros, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Center for Education Statistics, and researchers at the Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. Primary research is used throughout the article, from experiments, statistics, and observations. The intended audience would be children, parents, and the educational systems. Main points include: Dr. Barros’s study that suggests a daily break of 15 minutes or more in the school day may improve learning, social development, and health of the school children; The decline in number of recess periods in the school day; and how we need to restructure our educational systems to include more recess time. Opinions given were just from Dr. Barros, that the No Child Left behind act of 2001 is a major cause for lack of recess time in schools today. Facts include: unstructured play is essential for keeping children healthy and for helping them reach important social milestones, and to relieve stress; 83-88% of children in public schools have recess of some sort in the year 2005, but since 1970 they have lost 12 hours of free time per week, including a 25% decrease in play and a 50% decrease in outdoor activities. Information left out of the article is how recess could help decrease the growing childhood obesity risks. There is only one point of view in the article, which is that recess is important for children. A question I have is how many schools in the U.S. have eliminated recess time?

Source 7: no recess policies

“No-Recess Policies Being Implemented in U.S. School Districts-.” Adoption Library.

                Articles, Information, Laws, Help. Adopting, Foster, Unplanned Pregnancy

                Article. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar.  2011.

http://library.adoption.com/articles/no-recess-policies-being-implemented-in-u.s.-school-districts.html.

The main focus of the article, “No-Recess Policies Being Implemented in U.S. School Districts,” was the concern for the children who attend public schools that have taken away recess. School districts in Atlanta, New York, Chicago, New Jersey, and Connecticut have already built new schools in their districts, built without playgrounds. The belief behind taking away recess is that children will improve academically. Research given in this article, written by Adoption.com, shows that recess actually will increase student’s ability to concentrate in class. Children will also learn life social skills on the playground, and learn how to communicate with their peers.

I found this article, “No-Recess Policies Being Implemented in U.S. School Districts,” on Adoption.com when I searched via google.com. It is an internet article, written by the producers of Adoption.com. Given the fact that the article uses a variety of facts and research, I feel like it is a reputable source. If the article did not use outside proof to support their facts and ideas, it would not be as reputable. One author’s name was not specifically given, so I could not base the reputability of the article by the author alone. However, adoption.com focuses on children and gives important facts in their article, which in turn makes it reputable. A date was not given for the publication date, nor was a geographical location. The focus is on U.S. schools, so it is probably safe to assume it was written somewhere in the United States. After reading the article, I could feel a slight bias towards the culture of America. Blaming our U.S. schools for taking away recess, so that students can be compared to other countries in academics, is the first bias. Then the writers go on to share why children need recess, and point fingers at parents and educators for being the answer to fixing this growing trend of eliminating recess. In turn, recess could also reduce childhood obesity, which the article blames society for obesity. Sources that the article uses include: Johnson Dirk from the New York Times, the National Association for Sport and Physical Education, and Anthony Pellegrini who writes for the British Journal of Educational Psychology. Primary research is used in the article, including research data and surveys. The audience intended would probably be children, parents, educators, and school districts. Main points of the article are:  The trend for eliminating recess is growing in the U.S. schools; Some school districts believe recess is a waste of learning time; Studies show recess will improve learning for children in the classroom and in life skills; and Educators/parents need to reconsider the values from recess time. Opinions included: School districts that believe recess is a waste of time, and the opinion of the adoption.com writers that believe parents and educators are important for gaining back recess. Facts include: studies show children are more attentive after recess; prolonged amounts of inactivity in classrooms have lead to increased fidgeting and inability to concentrate; recess has been found to be important for children’s development; many children go home after school and watch television; nearly 5 million children are home alone after school; and children need at least 60 minutes of physical activity a day. Some information left out was the number of schools in the U.S. that do have recess compared to the number of schools that do not, and also the article does not mention the age range for the children they talk about in the article (i.e. elementary or middle school). There are various points of view in the article, the point of view from school districts that have eliminated recess, and the view from researchers and adoption.com. One question I have is, are these “no recess” guidelines voted on by parents and educators? Or are the just approved by a school board?