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The Importance Of Recess And Time For Physical Activity

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Give Them a Break! Every day, most adults manage their work days, that include breaks. Adults get up, make photocopies, get coffee, but typically do not focus on one task for a three hour period. By not providing breaks or recess, children are asked to focus for a longer period of time than most adults do in a day. Everyone benefits from breaks in the day and these coffee or recess breaks allow people to return to a task more focused and with improved concentration. Removing recess and unstructured physical activity time from the school day can have a serious impact on children’s health and well-being. Recess and time for physical activity is not only important to the overall health of children, it also provides an outlet that helps with the social, emotional, and cognitive development of children. In addition, it is also common for recess to be taken away from students who misbehave. Unfortunately, it is these types of students who benefit most from recess and the physical activity and break that is provided away from classroom instruction (“Yay For Recess”). Physical activity and recess for elementary school children should remain a part of the school day to improve academic performance and decrease negative behavior. Over the last ten years, the debate about the effect of recess and physical activity have frequently changed. In the pass, recess and physical activity, in the past, were a standard part of the school day. Currently, only eighteen percent of states require

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