by James Dreyer

Created on: October 01, 2007

I was growing impatient as I watched the clock on the classroom wall. The second hands seemed frozen in time; they did not appear to be moving at all. Wait, there, it moved just a bit. Then again, and again, and again, agonizingly slowly marking the seconds that would lead to minutes and eventually the bell would ring.

Oh, how I want that bell to ring; I want to hear it reverberate throughout the building as it signals my favorite time of the day - RECESS! I have to have my recess. I couldn't make it without some time out of this room. I need some fresh air and a little snack to keep me going. I have to keep fresh and energized; I have an important job to do; after all, I AM the teacher!

Recess is a very important part of the day in any school. Everyone - teachers, students, support personnel - needs a chance to blow off steam and to clear his or her head and prepare for the rest of the day. I think that school personnel across the nation are beginning to realize the importance of this small block of time and there is a resurgence in bringing recess back on line.

There is so much talk today about our children being obese due to a lack of exercise and physical activity, not to mention poor eating habits. And of course, we need to improve test scores across the board and research shows that physical activity helps to release the endorphins and other various natural chemicals in our brain to help us perform better mentally. Our students need to improve their social skills as well; they need to learn how to play well together.

All of these are areas of concern and need to be addressed. But, please don't expect sending kids to recess to cure these "ills". Recess in and of itself is not the answer to obesity or lack of performance in the classroom or inability to work well with others. Recess, though, is still important.

During recess students have the opportunity to engage in physical activity. Recess is usually not a structured activity in that a teacher or a volunteer coerces students to play ball or run races. It is a time to mingle and visit and engage in a friendly game of tether ball or red-rover if the child so desires. Many of them would just rather sit and watch the cars pass by or count the clouds in the sky. That's a good break from classwork but it is not physical activity.

Recess is a time when students are allowed to have a snack of some sort. How much control should the school have over what a child eats at recess? Should it be limited to proteins and

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