ALBANY (TNS) — New York teachers are demanding that children receive 30 minutes of unstructured play time during the elementary school day, a proposal that would have been laughable two decades ago.
That’s because back then, most elementary schools offered at least that much time for recess every day — even in winter.
Now, most school districts offer 15 minutes or less, according to New York State United Teachers. Around 40% of districts have cut back or eliminated recess in recent years, according to the union.
Legislators want to change that. Sen. James Skoufis, a Democrat from Orange County, has proposed legislation requiring the state Education Department to gather data this year about the amount of recess offered to every student in the state. That data would be due by Dec. 31.
Then, he said, he intends to propose legislation requiring all elementary schools to offer 30 minutes of recess daily. The idea is to have unstructured time outdoors.
Some school officials say that’s just not possible. In New York City, some schools do not have physical outdoor spaces. And in Upstate, many school officials say the five months of winter are no time to be outdoors. Recess monitors won’t stand outside, they said, and students will get wet and cold. Such districts still hold recess but move it indoors for the winter, where there is typically no room for unstructured play.
Skoufis is not interested in these explanations.
“The great irony is that again, the evidence is clear. You do more recess, the test scores are higher,” he said at a news conference held on the topic May 20. “Every shred of evidence is clear that recess is critical to education, to social well-being, to emotional well-being, to behavioral well-being.”
If school leaders don’t restore recess, he said, “we are well within our rights (to act) and we should be stepping in.”
In addition to improving behavior, research has found that taking students outside for a nature walk before a test improves their scores. Researchers have also found connections between outdoor recess and improved focus and memory.
The big problem for Upstate schools is recess in winter.
Snow can stick from late October to April, and even some districts that are dedicated to unstructured outdoor time say they can’t brave the cold, so students squeeze into the gym.
Schenectady offers 20 minutes of outdoor time in good weather. Albany offers a similar slice, with preschoolers getting 40 minutes. But the most common recess in New York state is 15 minutes long, according to state statistics.
Schools that are offering 15 minutes of recess are really only providing about seven minutes of play time, NYSUT President Melinda Person said at the recent press conference.
That’s because it takes students about four minutes to put on their coats, line up and walk down the hall, and four minutes to return, she said.
The remaining seven minutes for play are not long enough, she said.
“Play is not optional or trivial. It is fundamental. It helps kids learn to regulate their emotions,” she said. “When we take away recess, we’re not just taking away fun. We’re taking away growth: physically, emotionally and cognitively. It isn’t a break from learning. It is how young children learn.”
The lack of recess time could also be contributing to the rise in depression and anxiety in adolescents, said Maria Gonzalez-Bell, a school psychologist for the Rochester school district.
“We have seen an alarming increase of mental health disorders in our children that have reached epidemic levels. Our kids are not OK,” she said at the recent NYSUT news conference. “We have also seen an increase in the amount of children experiencing health problems due to lack of physical activity.
NYSUT has launched a campaign called the Power of Play to push for 30 minutes of recess in all elementary schools.
“Since No Child Left Behind, there has been less and less unstructured time. Recess has been pushed aside, squeezed out by tests, by screens, overscheduled school days,” Person, NYSUT’s president, said. “This is a huge mistake.”
