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.