April 16th, 2011 - By Therese Madden …is serious business!
Recently, recess has been canceled in many schools. Learn how
some Philadelphia schools are saving this much needed break in
the day. MORE FROM FIT: Damian Hammond is a 4th grader at Bache-
Martin Elementary School. Upset by the amount of times recess
was canceled he decided to speak in front of the School Reform
Commision about why recess is so important. Read Damian's speech
(PDF) » Listen to Damian's interview: Recess… it's the time of
the school day where the kids get to run free. Or do they?
"Well, many schools have chosen not to have recess because of
the problems that it creates. Maybe bullying, maybe violent
incidents, things like that. So, rather than addressing the fact
that we can change or we can reconstruct it, we have just
eliminated it," said Betty Ann Creighton, the Director of
Health, Safety and Physical Education for the School District of
Philadelphia. But doesn't it seem like a really bad time to be
canceling recess, when childhood