Editorial: Request for more recess starts an education discussion worth having

Recess was once an essential part of every school day.

Kickball, Red Rover and swinging on monkey bars provided a needed break from classroom work, allowed children to run off a little pent-up energy, and if it helped develop muscles and provide some cardiovascular benefit, that was good, too.

Nowadays, though, there is a trend that has recess going the way of the chalkboard as many school districts understandably concentrate on the prime objective of instruction time. Some Lake County parents have challenged the trend - and that's understandable, too.

The parents are citing health benefits in calling on Grayslake Elementary District 46 officials to set aside more daily outdoor playtime for younger students.

With growing concerns about childhood obesity, it's a discussion worth having in Grayslake and other districts where recess has been crowded out of the school day.

There are plenty of good reasons why that has happened, from budget cuts that have forced school districts to do more with less, to a greater emphasis on standardized testing that has many schools opting for more academic time over recess.

But the benefits of healthy mind, healthy body are important, too, especially when talking about today's children, who are overall less active than previous generations largely because of electronic devices.

The American Heart Association estimates about one in three American kids and teens is overweight or obese, nearly triple the rate in 1963. Among children, obesity is causing a broad range of health problems that previously weren't seen until adulthood, such as high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes and elevated blood cholesterol levels. Obese children are more prone to low self-esteem, negative body image and depression, it says.

To combat that, the Grayslake parents group, D46 Parents for Regular Recess, wants a policy allotting 30 consecutive minutes of outdoor playtime daily for district students in kindergarten through fourth grade. Currently, District 46 provides a pair of 15-minute recess periods per week.

District 46 officials say young students have gym class three days a week in addition to the recess time.

But D46 Parents for Regular Recess says that's not enough and points to research by the American Academy of Pediatrics showing children benefit from daily recess at school.

The academy defends the need for recess as a "crucial and necessary component of a child's development." It says safe and well-supervised recess offers cognitive, social, emotional, and physical benefits. Recess is unique from, and a complement to, physical education - not a substitute for it.

District 46 officials say they'll consider the request and the parents group says it wants to work with the district to eliminate obstacles preventing kids from getting recess each school day. That sounds like a partnership with the promise to develop a solution that will be in the kids' best interest.