Recess is a Right!

I am mother and former teacher, calling you to take action and stand up for the rights of your children. What we
preserve and safeguard today will be all that our children will have tomorrow. We felt lucky when we received a message from the local charter school that our son had won the lottery for enrollment into the school. But during the past year of his transition to first grade, his experience changed as did his behavior. By mid-year he had completely lost the spark and interest in going to school. During the second to last week of school, my son got into a conflict with a peer during recess. Later that day, my husband and son were approached by the teacher who explained to them that the consequence of his behavior had resulted in the loss of one week of recess time. Although the charter school ranks as one of the top schools in California, it was now falling short of my standards. Recess is vital to the growth and happiness of every child, it is an essential component of the educational process and vital to the childhood experience. Free play should never be viewed as a reward and privilege nor should it ever be denied to any child for any reason. In addition to physical health, recess plays an important role in childrens social, emotional and intellectual development. So the question is why are these events so common in our schools today? Withholding recess, free play and physical
activity from children as punitive measures is an unsound
practice and a violation of children’s personal rights. Running, jumping and playing are essential to children’s growth and healthy development. Many schools use lowering budgets and lack of funding as an excuse for these actions. Other schools and teachers take away recess assuming that such punitive strategies are effective in managing behavioral outbursts and disorder in the class. Who is held accountable when defective strategies and outdated teaching methods have taken a toll on our most valuable assets, the children? A core problem in schools, learning
centers and preschools, is lack of flexibility and change,
causing stagnation in the natural growth process. If we don’t learn to embrace change as the natural course of the
evolutionary process, how do we intend to solve the problems we are faced with today? Public policy makers, school administrators, city council members, and teachers play a significant role in the communities they serve. How well are these organizations and public institutions doing their job? How can their effectiveness within the community be measured and improved? Isn’t it time that we embrace new ideas and opportunities that offer all children the coping tools and knowledge for living a happy and healthy life? Life is about change, we are constantly experiencing changes in the cycles of nature, seasons and in our relationships. To instigate positive change in relation to recess and free play in school, please support the petition by signing and sharing it with as many people as you can.