For once there’s an educational proposal coursing through the legislative channels that doesn’t seem like a zero-sum, partisan crusade. It has nothing to do with standardized testing, perversion of the word “accountability” or school grading. But it has everything to do with recognizing what kids really need more of these days: time to be kids.
So far, so good for HB 833, which would require schools to provide daily recess (20 minutes to run around and play)–in addition to PE instruction–for elementary students. Rep. Joseph Geller, D-Aventura, put it into its proper context. “We mandate a lot of things that need to be taught,” noted Geller, “and, increasingly, that list is longer and longer. That mandate is part of what’s driving recess out of our schools. … We have to let our kids be kids. We have to let them have the chance at a mental break.”
In the age of more standardized testing, increasingly organized group activities and the advent of helicopter parenting, there’s never been a better time for kid time. How old school.