Letter to the editor: “Recess is possible, and it isn’t too much to ask”

Editor’s note: Wellesley Middle School Social Studies students as part of a Civics Action Projects has this week taken over The Swellesley Report‘s letters-to-the-editor page. The students are well-versed in their topics, have carefully researched all angles, and are ready to present their opinions to the community. Thank you to the WMS Social Studies teachers for organizing this community-based project.

We want to turn advisory into an unstructured period where students have the option to go outside, or stay inside and do work, depending on what they feel like.

Rates of stress and anxiety in middle schoolers has risen alarmingly in the past eight years, as well as depression, suicide, self harm, and other negative mental health issues. Therefore we think it’s vital to ensure that the current state of kids feeling constantly overwhelmed is decreased, and that kids feel safe and happy in the environment that they are learning in.

Currently, in the generation of young kids, there is a mental health epidemic. Many more kids are dealing with anxiety and stress than that of past generations.

Based the 2021 MetroWest survey, middle school students who report high levels of stress are:

1.7x more likely to get fewer than 8 hours of sleep on the average school night
4.6x more likely to report depressive symptoms
2.5x more likely to ever drink alcohol

Based on the MetroWest survey of all Wellesley Middle Schools done in 2021:

More students have attempted suicide and engaged in self harm than 2018.
The percentage of middle schoolers that have seriously considered suicide has risen 3% since 2018.
The percentage of middle schoolers that have attempted suicide has risen by 1% since 2018.
Depressive symptoms have risen by 6% in middle schoolers.

Mandatory recess isn’t a foreign idea, either. Before the No Child left Behind act was passed in 2002, it was common for recess to be mandatory nationwide. Currently, only eight states require it. All 42 other states have no regulation on the amount of time kids spend outside everyday, and this is very problematic.

Adults should put students’ mental health above things such as schoolwork, homework, and quizzes. There isn’t much of a point of school if no one can learn because so many are miserable. Pushing kids to their limit and not caring as an adult is cruel. Everyone was a kid once, and everyone can remember how hard it was. Teachers and other adults in and outside of school need to start paying more attention to the type of environment students are learning in.

We conducted a survey asking students at WMS if they think recess would be beneficial, and 72.9% of all students stated that they find recess beneficial and would enjoy having it everyday.

Recess benefits students in the way that it doesn’t just improve mental health, but performance in school as well. According to the American University School of Education:

Studies have found that after participating in recess, kids are more focused and are on task in the classroom.
Recess increases blood flow to the brain, which also improves neural connectivity as well as growth of learning cells.
This leads to greater attention and memory span.
Kids who have an unstructured recess-like period also have shown an increase in problem solving and creativity.

Recess improves a lot of skills vital for kids leading a productive and fulfilling life:

Negotiation—There aren’t unlimited toys and structures in playgrounds, so kids are forced to learn how to take turns and decide who gets to play first.
Conflict resolution—If play turns to conflict, kids need to learn how to resolve that conflict. Leaning at a young age helps create the foundational skills that they’ll need as an adult.
Creativity—With not many options of equipment and games, kids are forced to use imagination to transform reality into something entertaining. When I was in 5th grade, every recess the swings would turn into spaceships and the trees, aliens. Creative thinking expands kids’ views and thinking.

An easy way to manage all of these skills and teach them to kids of all ages in an interactive environment is recess. There are very clear examples as to how this is beneficial, and if people are being honest when they state that the biggest thing that they care for is students’ wellbeing, then recess should be allowed.

Some people think that middle schoolers are too old for recess, but the school I previously attended, a K-8 school, had recess for all the grades. Recess was the one period that everyone could cut loose, hang out with friends, play games with each other and run around. It was the time where I could release all the energy I had—and still have—bottled up inside of me. Then afterwards, when all of us went inside we were happier, less restless, and we felt fulfilled.

Recess is possible, and it isn’t too much to ask.

Lillian Drage
Wellesley Middle School student