WASHINGTON — Remember recess? Making up games, soaring on swings
and conquering the monkey bars? For years, many schools have
been cutting back on recess as they try to squeeze more
instruction time out of the day. Now everyone from health
experts to Ranger Rick argues that it’s important to bring it
back. An abundance of research supports the logic that kids’
health, social skills and brainpower all benefit from time to
play outside – every day. But millions of kids aren’t getting
the recommended 20 minutes of burn-off-some-steam time every
day, surveys show, let alone the 60 minutes of daily physical
activity that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention say children and adolescents need. Lack of recess
means even less time outdoors for kids who already spend a lot
of indoor time huddled with electronic media. “Even if it’s an
asphalt or concrete surface that kids are out playing on, they
are outside,” said Allen Cooper, the director of state and local
education advocacy for the National Wildlife