is missing recess developmentally appropriate?

I think it is out of line with what we know about children and learning

Since it is often the most movement oriented kids who end up with this punishment, it is doubly confusing to me!!!

My oldest sons third grade teacher had him go outside and run laps for excessive talking-I think it was just what he needed but I have to point out there was an aide in the class that made this a possibility

In fairness to teachers, I don’t know that they have many options because of staffing and safety requirements.

I suspect it is the easiest and most obvious option available more than the most ‘deveopmentally appropriate’.

With budget cuts, that may be difficult to fix

For a child to rarely miss recess I wouldn’t make a big deal about it. If it becomes fairly routine then I’d want to find other solutions. There is something wrong if the child in getting in this situation too often. Maybe it’s medication or accommodations that are needed. I have read of parents putting it in the 504 that the child should not miss recess to make up work or as punishment.

My daughter did miss recess maybe 3 times for not completing work in a timely fashion in 1st grade and it did seem to give her the motivation to stay on-task. If it didn’t work so readily then I would have dug a little deeper into finding help for my daughter to be able to finish her work on time. I know of one teacher that had a ticking time in class that was for the ADHD kids to become more aware of time but she didn’t want to single the kids out that had a problem so the whole class benefited from the timer.

Terry

In the ideal world, taking away breaks is never appropriate for young children. But sadly school is not the ideal world. Taking recess away as a punishment never made sense to me. I might keep a child in from recess but then I sat with the child - it wasn’t a holding tank. I interacted with the child - we worked through the problem - and we did it at recess because there’s no other time to do it sometimes.

To keep them in at recess to make up work, I never did that but plenty of my colleagues did.

Modern schools don’t recognize old truths about children’s developmental needs. I hear very little talk these days about developmental needs and lots of talk about work, work work in school.

I can see both sides of the issue but my son doesn’t seem to mind if he has to wait 5 minutes due to “not paying attention” etc… I don’t think he sees it as a punishment at all.

However, I worry that our children are missing out on a lot of social skills training. The playground has always been one of the biggest social events of the day. This is were conflicts are created and resolved, friendships are bonded, team work is initiated, and your first “love” found. There is where you learn children start to learn about the reality of life - the good and the bad.

If the children receive very little “free” interaction time, I feel they will have many more social issues that we do.

Not to mention the health and physical issue already discussed.

Our school is always monitoring what snacks we send to school. It must be healthy and nutritious (no complaint here). THey blame the parents for some of the childrens’ weight issues. Seems to me that the school systems should be able to add: 1 + 1 = 2. OR low excercise + too much homework = extra weight.

Still seems like our school systems are way off base and out of touch with reality.

My 5th-grade teacher took away our daily recess period from January until the end of school in June because we made too much noise playing dodge ball in the gym.

This was the least of her problems by the way. She read the paper all day while we worked problems at the end each chapter. She must have been a very slow reader is all I can say.

She was forced to retire the next year, but that didn’t do me any good. How bad was she? My father ran for PTA president and was elected. This was in Baltimore in 1960 and, to be fair, most of my teachers were wonderful.

“Still seems like our school systems are way off base and out of touch with reality.”

Sad isn’t it, although obviously some systems and schools are better than others.

John

There are develpomental milestones that dictate what is age appropriate. Unfortunately public schools 100% ignorant about the last 60 years of developmental psychology.

That kind of punishment is inappropriate for children that age.

Serving detentions during recess is part of my son’s LD/ADHD school. I used to think this was odd until I realized it was a powerful motivator for my son. He’s had 3 detentions this school year. He HATES it and really tries to avoid it.

When I was teaching in schools and I tried to keep high school students in at recess because you couldn’t let them miss their buses after school, I was told that recess detentions were illegal. Check your local laws and see what you find out.

I think, like many things, appropriateness is not judged on the action per se, but in how it is applied. To take a child who is misbehaving and make them miss recess can be a good motivator towards not misbehaving, and like many other mild aversives can be part of a successful total mix.

However, if a child is being made to sit inside day after day it is indicative that the desired effect of modification of behavior is not being achieved, and it is time to rethink the strategy and find something that works better.

That being said, I think if the schools would rethink making time for mid-morning recess, such as we had when I was young, they might find that some of the kids who are misbehaving suddenly aren’t such bad kids after all. Children under the age of say 8, especially little boys are not really prepared or able to sit still and do book work for 3-4 hours at a clip.

Do you know what I really, really, really disagree with? Teachers that use classwork, such as writings, extra worksheets or added homework as punishment. I believe very strongly that doing so creates a very negative association in the minds of young children towards doing that type of work with long-term rammifications. Teachers should never turn kids off to reading and writing, or other assignments by making them punishments.

Dad wrote: <<That being said, I think if the schools would rethink making time for mid-morning recess, such as we had when I was young, they might find that some of the kids who are misbehaving suddenly aren’t such bad kids after all. Children under the age of say 8, especially little boys are not really prepared or able to sit still and do book work for 3-4 hours at a clip. >>

Neither are little girls, Dad.

It has always amazed me how people will tell me that little girls are so easy, and “wait until you have a BOY, then you’ll see…” I defy any male child to keep up with my oldest girl!

Not giving you a hard time, Dad. Just don’t believe in those kind of generalizations. :)

Dad, I agree with you heartily about not making learning into a punishment. Especially not math — Lordy, don’t we already have weak enough math on this continent without making doing it into a punishment?
Parents, if you see your school doing this, it is really important to speak up.

Dad and Cathryn, I totally agree with Cathryn about active girls. As the mother of a girl who could run any three adults ragged (and a woman with a math degree), I highly resent people who talk about *only* boys’ needs. It is very often a hidden form of discrimination — boys “need” this and that and the other thing, and girls get the leftovers or the second-rate.
In fact my sweet angelic-looking 4 1/2 year-old made a point to race (and sometimes elbow) into kindergarten first every morning, so she could grab first dibs at the sand table and the machinery. She also never believed in sleep, dropping to eight hours as an infant and never sleeping much more than that until late teens. Take a day with a girl like that and you will be glad to get back to your “active” boys for a rest.

victoria wrote: <<Dad and Cathryn, I totally agree with Cathryn about active girls. As the mother of a girl who could run any three adults ragged (and a woman with a math degree), I highly resent people who talk about *only* boys’ needs. It is very often a hidden form of discrimination — boys “need” this and that and the other thing, and girls get the leftovers or the second-rate.
In fact my sweet angelic-looking 4 1/2 year-old made a point to race (and sometimes elbow) into kindergarten first every morning, so she could grab first dibs at the sand table and the machinery. She also never believed in sleep, dropping to eight hours as an infant and never sleeping much more than that until late teens. Take a day with a girl like that and you will be glad to get back to your “active” boys for a rest.>>

OMG… somebody finally agrees with me on that, or at least, has the courage to say it! Thank you, Victoria! I couldn’t have said it better!

My daughter isn’t feeling so good lately, but before her depression, she used to chase all the boys at the playground (not at school, have to clarify that, it was at the park last summer, and it was in fun— she is not a nasty child), and then stand up on the top of the jungle gym thingy and laugh and laugh, and yell things down, like “Hi, Boys!”, and “Come and get me, if you can”! It was so funny. I tried to keep a straight face, but inside, part of me was proud of her.

This is a child who talked from the moment she opened her eyes at the crack of dawn, until she was “forced” to close them at night. (She doesn’t believe in sleep either, victoria, not since the day she was born.)

She gives me a run for my money, always has, is incredibly high-maintenance, but I wouldn’t want her to be any other way. I am not complaining, mind you.

victoria wrote: <<As the mother of a girl who could run any three adults ragged (and a woman with a math degree), I highly resent people who talk about *only* boys’ needs. It is very often a hidden form of discrimination — boys “need” this and that and the other thing, and girls get the leftovers or the second-rate.>>

I resent it too, and I hear it so often, everywhere there are parents sitting and talking it seems, and I always chime in and tell them about my girl. I KNEW she couldn’t POSSIBLY be the only female child like that! Sweet and demure, sitting in her chair doing boring work 3 to 4 hours? Uh-uh. Not willingly, anyway. She’s a wild one, and she’s a GIRL!

Well, Cathryn, my lovely darling daughter gave up naps as a small infant, before five months old, stayed up all day and slept only when I did; rolled over at two months because I wouldn’t come and get her — I was putting down a new floor and mistakenly thought she’d sleep for an hour; crept in a butterfly stroke, could cross the room at speed at five months and ten pounds weight; learned a somersault from a neighbour boy at eighteen months; started dressing herself (simple pull-ons naturally) at eighteen months; crawled into my lap and insisted on getting in on the reading lessons before age two; all through school was in one, two, or sometimes three sports and other activities. She was terribly underweight — I was the “Have another doughnut, darling?” mother — until her late teens, because she burned off every calorie that went in. She tires easily and has to eat frequently, but recovers pretty fast. We used to joke that as a baby she could teleport because you would see her here and then there, but you wouldn’t see here move in between. To this day I have no idea how she changed from sitting to crawling position — faster than the human eye. I had to watch her every waking second, am constantly freaking at a client’s home daycare where she actually *turns her back* on the kids when she chats.

Remember this mantra, whenever you get too tired, and repeat it to people who complain: I am very very happy to have a bright, active, healthy child.

LOL, victoria :lol:

Your daughter sounds like such a wonderful child, and reminds me of my oldest daughter, the wild child. My daughter has always had a ravenous appetite, and ate like a little hog her whole life, every single day, was ALWAYS hungry and nagging me for more and more FOOD, until her recent depression (that was the first RED FLAG), and she never gained an ounce, well, because there is never a moment’s peace! She’s almost as tall as me now, doesn’t know her own strength, and has literally knocked me down before (by accident, of course) when we were rough-housing. Now, I’m very careful when she comes at me, because I DO know her strength! But, she can also channel all that vibrant energy into her dance, which is making her such a stand-out at her dance school! She had always wanted to be a Ballerina (and still does, is DYING for the pointe shoes next year), but her best dance is Jazz. When I hear people telling me (and I do) that dance is useless, not athletic or a sport, and a waste of money, it really gets my goat, you know?

My daughter NEVER slept as an infant… that’s when I was really exhausted, victoria! She didn’t sleep 5 straight hours at night until she was 4 months old.

Interestingly, after my daughter’s 2 1/2 hour long dance lessons on Tuesday nights, she has even more energy than when she went in! I don’t know how that’s possible.

victoria wrote: <<Remember this mantra, whenever you get too tired, and repeat it to people who complain: I am very very happy to have a bright, active, healthy child.>>

Words to live by, victoria.

:roll: My son never gets recess as he cannot get his work done in school. He comes home and makes up for it, then the teacher wonders why he doesn’t get his homework done.
The sad fact is he seems to store up this energy and is much more hyper after school than on days he has been home and could get his exercize.