Recess making comeback in public schools: ‘Children do better when they have a break’

After a years of teetering on the brink, recess is making a comeback in public schools as state lawmakers move to reinstate playground time lost in the push for higher test scores.

Last week, Arizona and Virginia approved bipartisan recess bills, following on the heels of Florida in June and Rhode Island in 2016, as pressure builds from parents who argue that all work and no play is hobbling student achievement.

Providing daily recess for elementary-school children “helps them with stress and built-up energy,” said Sylvia Tenney Allen, the bill’s sponsor and chair of the Arizona Senate Education Committee. “Studies prove that children do better when they have a break throughout the day.”

For Christine Davis of Phoenix, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey’s decision to sign the bill Thursday represented the culmination of an effort that began three years ago when she asked her daughters what they did during recess — and was greeted with blank stares.

“I would ask my kids, ‘Hey, what did you do at recess today? Any tetherball? Any kickball?’ And they’d be like, ‘Well, not really. We only go once, and it’s only for 10 minutes,’” said Ms. Davis. “That’s when I went, what? And that’s when I learned also that so many parents and grandparents just have no idea.”

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