Recess in the 21st Century Post‐COVID World

Abstract

The abrupt onset of the COVID-19 pandemic forced the world into frenzied action, creating a series of ongoing stressors: school/work closings, remote learning, canceled events, family strife, fear, and a significant loss of social interactions. It is now unsurprising to learn that children's mental health has suffered. As social connection is tightly entwined with children's mental health, supporting school-based spaces for quality social interactions is an important post-pandemic recovery strategy. The unstructured school recess space is ideal for supporting recovery. A large and growing body of evidence supports the important role of recess, yet evidence also suggests that recess is not always implemented in ways that fulfill its promise.

Full text

COMMENTARY
Recess in the 21st Century Post-COVID World
Global Recess Alliance, CATHERINE L. RAMSTETTER, PhDaEDBAINES, PhDbCHARLENE WOODHAM BRICKMAN, PhDcBRENDON HYNDMAN, PhDd
OLGA JARRETT, PhDeREBECCA A. LONDON, PhDfWILLIAM MASSEY, PhDgLAUREN MCNAMARA, PhDhROBERT MURRAY,MD
iDEBBIE RHEA, PhDj
Citation: Global Recess Alliance, Ramstetter C, Baines E, Brickman CW, Hyndman B, Jarrett O, London RA, Massey W,
McNamara L, Murray R, Rhea D. Recess in the 21st century post-COVID world. J Sch Health. 2022; DOI: 10.1111/josh.13235
Received on May 23, 2022
Accepted on July 8, 2022
The abrupt onset of the COVID-19 pandemic forced
the world into frenzied action, creating a series
of ongoing stressors: school/work closings, remote
learning, canceled events, family strife, fear, and
a significant loss of social interactions. It is now
unsurprising to learn that children’s mental health
has suffered. As social connection is tightly entwined
with children’s mental health, supporting school-based
spaces for quality social interactions is an important
post-pandemic recovery strategy. The unstructured
school recess space is ideal for supporting recovery.
A large and growing body of evidence supports the
important role of recess, yet evidence also suggests
that recess is not always implemented in ways that
fulfill its promise.
We use ‘‘recess’’ as an inclusive term for mean-
ingful, self-directed, unstructured play at school for
all children, through adolescence, ideally occurring
outdoors. We note that what is referred to as recess by
the American Academy of Pediatrics is referred to as
‘‘breaktime’’ in other countries. Despite advances in
comprehensive school health, recess has received com-
paratively little attention with respect to translation of
research findings, innovation, and change efforts. At
a time of increased concern about the well-being of
aSchool Health Consultant, (DrR@SuccessfulHealthyChildren.org), Successful Healthy Children, 629 Liddle Lane, Wyoming, OH45215.
bSenior Lecturer, (e.baines@ucl.ac.uk), University College London, Institute of Education, 20 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AL, UK.
cRecess and Play Consultant, (drb@recessandplay.com), Recess and Play, 145 Watson Drive, Athens, GA 30605.
dAssociate Dean, (bhyndman@csu.edu.au), Charles Sturt University, Albury/Wodonga, Building 763, Room 133, North Wagga, NSW, 2650, Australia.
eProfessor Emerita, (jarrettolga@gmail.com), Georgia State University, Atlanta, 1070 Ashbury Drive, Decatur, GA 30030.
fAssociate Professor, (rlondon@ucsc.edu), University of California, Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064.
gAssistant Professor, (william.massey@oregonstate.edu), Oregon State University, Women’s Building 203C, 160 SW26th Street, Corvallis, OR 97331.
hRecess Researcher, Ashoka Fellow, (lauren@recessprojectcanada.com), Recess Project Canada, 415 Yonge Street, 7th Floor, Suite 701, Toronto, Ontari o, M5B 2E7, Canada.
iPediatrician, (murrayMD@live.com), American Academy of Pediatrics, 1629 Berkshire Road, Columbus, OH 43221.
jAssociateDean of Health Sciences & Research, Professor of Kinesiology and Founding Director of The LiiNK Project, (d.rhea@tcu.edu), Texas Christian University, Anni e Richardson
Bass Building 2800 West Bowie Street, Fort Worth, TX 76109.
Address correspondenceto: Catherine L. Ramstetter, PhD, (drr@successfulhealthychildren.org), School Health Consultant, Successful Healthy Children, 629 Li ddle Lane, Wyoming,
OH 45215; BrendonHyndman, PhD, (bhyndman@csu.edu.au), Charles Sturt University, Albury/Wodonga, Building 763, Room 133, North Wagga, NSW, 2650, Australia.
Open access publi shing facili tated by Charles St urt Universit y, as part of the Wil ey - Charles Stur t University agr eement via the Council of Austral ian University Librari ans.
children and adolescents, addressing this setting is an
especially relevant area of inquiry for school health.
Recess offers the potential to positively shape
learning, social connection, emotional well-being,
and physical health. When daily recess is available
and with attention to creating safe and healthy
play opportunities, research shows improvements in
student attention, emotional regulation, classroom
behavior, and overall school climate. Furthermore,
less chaos and bullying at recess occur when safe and
healthy play opportunities exist, which reduces the
time teachers need to ready their students for learning
when they return to class. Yet, recess is also a space
that can be a challenge for schools, as a time when
children may experience or witness negative social
interactions such as bullying, isolation, or exclusion.
For recess to deliver its full potential, to be
an inclusive, equitable space that alleviates stress,
and promotes holistic child development, we must
take action. The purpose of our commentary is to
elevate school recess in the global conversation of
schooling, specifically to highlight recess for critical
reflection, consolidating contemporary research and
providing recommendations for an urgently needed
way forward.
Journal of School Health •2022 •1
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This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the
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RECESS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY:
PROMOTING AND
PROTECTING CHILDREN’S RIGHT TO PLAY
From a historical perspective, schools were
designed to prepare students for an industrial-era
workforce; the architecture, desk arrangements,
daily routines, and focus on traditional classroom
instruction reflect this ideology. Little attention was
given to other types of learning activities—such
as recess—which were considered ancillary and
deprioritized accordingly with respect to funding
and accountability. While there has been a notable
movement towards an overall focus on well-being
and equitable learning environments, the recess
setting is often overlooked in school improvement
efforts. As a result, schoolyards continue to receive
minimal resources and consideration—particularly
those in low-resource neighborhoods—and this is
reflected in the commonly-seen asphalt-covered,
barren schoolyard that does little to invite meaningful
play, recreation, and social engagement.
The global community has long recognized that
breaks and unstructured play are fundamental to
children’s physical, social, mental, and emotional
development as well as central to their enjoyment
and happiness. Play was considered so necessary to
healthy development that in 1987, the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) deemed
it one of 54 fundamental human rights: specifically
Article 31, The Right to Play, Rest, and Leisure. Article 31
states: ‘‘every child has the right to rest and leisure, to
engage in play and recreational activities appropriate
to the age of the child, and to participate freely in
cultural life and the arts.’’1
The purpose of the 54 articles of the UNCRC is
to ensure children’s basic rights are protected and
promoted regardless of race, religion, or abilities. In
2013, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child
reviewed the progress of article 31 and found that,
more than 30 years later, little investment has been
made to protect and promote this right, including by
schools. The Committee found: ‘‘where investment
is made, it is in the provision of structured and
organized activities, but equally important is the need
to create time and space for children to engage in
spontaneous play, recreation and creativity, and to
promote societal attitudes that support and encourage
such activity.’’2Notably, the Committee highlighted
equity concerns in children’s rights, with ‘‘girls, poor
children, children with disabilities, indigenous chil-
dren, children belonging to minorities,’’2of particular
concern.
Given that most children spend a considerable
portion of their developmental years in the school
community, recess provides a unique space in
which children and adolescents can exercise these
fundamental rights.
Recess: The Science Behind Play and Learning
Pioneering research methods have led to break-
throughs in our understanding of the neurophysiology
of learning. Of importance to educators, student learn-
ing can be strengthened by regular breaks during the
school day; time to allow memory traces formed in the
classroom to be stabilized. Without these breaks, learn-
ing can be eroded by the inability to retain information.
Recess affords the time for such breaks that are criti-
cal for learning and provides opportunities for physical
activity and play, which are vital for cognitive develop-
ment. Furthermore, research in both exercise science
and child development indicates physically active play
and creative play enhance executive functioning skills,
which are predictive of both academic readiness and
academic achievement. Enhancing physical activity
levels in children increases inhibition, cognitive flex-
ibility, and working memory as measured by both
psychophysiological and behavioral indices, thereby
making a substantial positive impact on classroom
learning. Play also decreases stress, which has posi-
tive implications on memory, learning, behavior, and
mental health, thereby addressing the holistic needs of
children in schools.
Recess: A Needed Opportunity for Educator Training
and Development
Training those who supervise recess is crucial
for creating a safe, healthy, and equitable play
space. Within teacher education programs, trainee
teachers rarely receive adequate, formalized learning
in the value of recess and unstructured play.
Teacher certification programs often focus on direct
instruction pedagogies and sacrifice time to promote
developmentally appropriate practice in the areas of
social and emotional development. This unbalanced
approach places too much emphasis on skills-based
learning while ignoring the needs of the whole child.
Another concern is that many existing teachers
consider recess supervision an unwanted burden.
When recess is viewed as merely a time for students
to expend energy, it devalues the important learning
that the unstructured recess environment can offer.
Educators require improved knowledge of the learning
that occurs when students are playing during recess,
and their role in supporting it.
In addition to teachers, recess is often supervised
by a largely untrained body of paraprofessionals. For
example, in the UK ‘‘mid-day assistants’’ are typically
responsible for recess, and training, if provided, is
often informal and sometimes little more than general
conversations as the need arises. This means that adults
have no explicit training on their role in supporting
play and a positive recess environment. As such,
they are left to their own assumptions about how to
supervise recess, and are unprepared to diagnose and
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moderate what might be problematic or dangerous
behaviors. Schools should consider providing formal
training for all who will supervise recess.
Effective teacher preparation programs must begin
to place a stronger emphasis on interdisciplinary child
development. In doing so, social-emotional facets,
such as play, risk, resiliency, and creativity can be
brought into the classroom and encouraged during
recess with the next wave of trained educators.
Incorporating play for pre-service teachers can assist
educators in refreshing their connections to play
thereby strengthening play opportunities for the
students they will serve. Furthermore, there is a need
for principals and others in the administration to gain
a deeper understanding of how play and recess/breaks
support the needs of the whole child, at every age and
grade level.
Recess: An Opportunity for Age-Appropriate Leisure
and Play for All Students
Globally, many students experience recess through-
out their schooling; however, this is not always the
case. For example, in the United States, recess is
often discontinued after elementary education (typ-
ically year 5 or 6). However, even for pre-adolescents
and adolescents, recess offers important opportunities
to socialize and engage in self-chosen activities with
friends and peers. These are important for the devel-
opment of social skills on which future relationships
are based.
Research demonstrates that during this transition
from elementary to secondary, students often become
less active at school. Developmentally, older students
may prefer experiences that incorporate increased
socialization. A challenge for secondary schools is
that the way children desire to play shifts, requiring
changes in the physical environment for recess. It
is important to have well-resourced spaces dedicated
to specific activities with socializing opportunities
(eg, games, art, dance). These may include multiple
alternative supervised spaces in addition to the
outdoor school yard, such as the library, art room,
computer lab, and so on. To better accommodate
recess opportunities for older students, we recommend
schools consult with students on what their interests
and needs are.
Recess: An Opportunity to Recognize and Contest
Inequity
Every child has the right to breaks in the school
day, time in which to play, be active, and interact
with their peers. However, research shows that
there is disparity in recess quantity and quality by
race/ethnicity, disability, and socio-economic status.
Children of color and those attending under-resourced
schools experience lower quality and fewer minutes
of recess, a phenomenon documented in Australia,
Canada, the UK, and the United States.
Other areas of concern are the limitations in
play opportunities for children with disabilities. For
example, many US school playgrounds are minimally
compliant with current Americans for Disability Act
regulations. Schools worldwide must consider play
materials that provide appropriate adaptive physical
and social play opportunities for children of all ages
and abilities, which allow children with disabilities to
interact with their classmates.
One challenge to recess equity is that it is common
for students to miss part or all of recess due to poor
behavior in class or on the playground, or to complete
classwork or homework. Children who struggle behav-
iorally or academically at school are the ones most
likely to have recess withheld thus missing the oppor-
tunities to learn from engagement with peers in games
and play. Using recess deprivation as punishment is
unlikely to lead to increased educational engagement
and is counterproductive to the goals of whole child
education. Positive, motivational approaches should
become part of a formal school policy on recess.
Recess Policy: An Opportunity to Elevate the Value of Play
Considering the directive of the UNCRC, there are
several policy considerations to ensure students have
access to daily recess. Policies can be made at the school
or district level; however, state/provincial or national
policy is the most effective way to reach the largest
number of students, ensuring a safe and healthy recess
experience. When crafting recess policy, we outline 5
policy parameters:
1. Secure time for daily recess. Key questions that arise
are how much time and for which grade levels. We
believe all children need one or more daily breaks.
We recommend these breaks total no less than
40 minutes per day, broken into a minimum of 2
recess periods.
2. Disallow the withholding of recess for missed
schoolwork or misbehavior. Although withhold-
ing recess has not been demonstrated in research as
an evidence-based practice, many teachers, admin-
istrators, lunch monitors, and recess supervisors
continue to use withholding recess as both a threat
and a punishment.
3. Provide training for teachers and paraprofessional
staff that ensures safe, healthy, and inclusive recess.
Training promotes buy-in for recess.
4. Require data collection and reporting. Currently,
there is no repository of information about whether
schools offer recess, the time allotted for recess, or
about recess withholding.
5. Include recommendations for a variety of equip-
ment and loose parts (balls, hula hoops, jumpropes,
painted lines on hard surfaces, safe surfaces,
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©2022 The Authors. Journal of School Health published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American School Health Association.

climbing equipment, etc.) considering the needs
of children of all ages and abilities.
We also recommend accountability mecha-
nisms to support compliance and effective policy
implementation.
Recess: Opportunity for the Future
Our vision is that researchers, educators, and policy
makers respond to our call to action, with collabora-
tion, expanding the current body of knowledge of the
benefits of recess; examining barriers and best practices
in delivering a safe, inclusive recess; and advocating
for change based on these best practices—all essential
to ensuring recess delivers its potential for all children
to experience their right to play. It is long past time
for recess to join education in the 21st century; more
importantly, it is time for education to reclaim its
purpose to teach skills, provide intellectual exploration
and foster emotional development. Recess must be
included in every educational decision, considering,
and promoting what is in the best interest of the child:
the right to rest, leisure and play.
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
REFERENCES
1. United Nations Human Rights Office of the Commissioner.
Convention on the Rights of the Child. United Nations Human Rights
Office of the Commissioner; 1989 Available at: www.ohchr
.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CRC.aspx. Accessed May 22,
2022.
2. United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child.
2013.General comment No. 17 on the right of the child to
rest, leisure, play, recreational activities, cultural life and the arts
(art. 31).
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