Alternatives to taking away recess as punishment

BY STEVE NUZUM

I taught sixth grade for two years in Southeast Richland County. During that time, I only saw my kids get to spend time outside a handful of times, during school-wide events like field day.

On every “normal” day of the school year, those sixth graders left class with their teachers in the late morning, marched down to the lunchroom in lines, cued up to get their lunches on Styrofoam trays, and then sat at crowded lunch tables with built-in plastic seats, beneath harsh fluorescent lights, until it was time to march back to class.

I imagine Sisyphus could relate.

I don’t remember if we ever received an official explanation for the decision to completely forgo regular recess/ outside time, but I seem to remember hearing that either a kid getting injured in a previous year while at recess, or the overall “bad behavior” of the students was the culprit.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) both formally recommend recess time during the day, with