Editorial: State reps should endorse recess

Everyone deserves a break.

Get up. Stretch your legs. Take a walk around the building or the block. Turn away from your work, breathe deep and think about something else for a minute. The job will still be there when you are done and maybe you can come back to the task with less fatigue and more energy.

You have heard that advice before, right? It’s the kind of thing you might get from a doctor or a mentor, encouraging you to balance doing the work with being the best you to get the work done. It’s why people get coffee breaks and lunch hours and the occasional cake in the lounge to celebrate Sharon in accounting’s birthday.

The adult world increasingly has valued downtime as part of what makes a well-rounded person and a well-functioning employee. So why is it valued less and less for kids?

In school, the escalating demands of testing and the need for schools to justify to higher authorities how the most education has been wrung out of every hour has made recess into a quaint memory of a time gone by. A period of the day when kids get to run in circles or jump rope or just sit in the shade and talk to friends without someone telling them to be quiet? Where is the educational return in that?

There’s quite a bit. The American Academy of Pediatrics endorses recess for “cognitive, social, emotional and physical benefits that may not be fully appreciated when a decision is made to diminish it.” Nonetheless, the American Federation of Teachers says that in a 14-year period, a scheduled recess period fell from 42.3% of classes to just 26.2%.

Students at Burrell School District’s Huston Middle School want it back, and they are partnering with state Rep. Bob Brooks, R-Murrysville, to try to make it happen. Pennsylvania has no law guaranteeing recess. Even when free periods are provided in middle or high school, they can be the first casualty when other demands crop up.

“Recess gives me a break, and when I’m done, I’m ready to learn,” said Jack Lattanzio, 12.

That’s not hard to understand. Some successful corporations have embraced the concept for years. The U.S. Department of Labor makes sure other employers give workers a minimum amount of breathing time during a shift. Kids deserve no less.

Brooks is looking for co-sponsors to take the Huston students’ proposal to the House Education Committee. Any representative should jump at the chance to attach a name. If anyone can understand the value of recess, it’s a body that takes July and August off and is only in session 15 days for the rest of 2021.