"A child's learning is the function more of the characteristics of his classmates than those of the teacher." James Coleman, 1972

Monday, March 27, 2006

The War on Recess

Recess is a thing of the past in 40% of America's elementary schools. At Alpha Elementary in Louisiana, recess disappeared in 2001 and was replaced by the scripted Open Cult, er, Open Court Reading Program.

Now Massachusetts suburban parents are starting to respond the war on childhood. Bankrolled by the Cartoon Network, a new campaign is underway called Rescuing Recess. Here is clip from today's Boston Herald story:
Nationwide, 40 percent of elementary schools have either eliminated recess or are considering shortening students’ free time on the playground, according to the National Parent Teacher Association, which is partnering with the Cartoon Network for the “Rescuing Recess” campaign.
“A lot of parents and the public are appalled there is no recess in school and they don’t know that it’s happening,” said Anna Weselak, National PTA president. The war on recess has already hit the Bay State in several communities.

No comments:

Post a Comment