Advocacy for Playtime Gains Momentum as Recess Dwindles in Schools
On a recent Saturday afternoon, the Ballantyne Bowl playground was bustling with activity. Among the children, 9-year-old Christian Glynn and his 4-year-old brother Holden found joy not in the slides or climbing ropes, but in sliding down the artificial turf hill using pieces of cardboard.
“The plan is to use the cardboard to slide down the fake grass turf, because it is on a hill,” Christian explained. “So we’ll see how that works.”
Their father, Ross Glynn, sees immense value in such unstructured playtime, not just during weekends but also in school settings. While he appreciates the rigorous academic focus of school days, he advocates for a balanced approach that includes recess.
Glynn emphasizes, “So of course, that’s academics,” adding, “That’s, I would argue, always going to be the highest and most important priority. But there’s also the opposite of that—unstructured time with their peers, frankly, without adults interfering, without adults leading the way.”
Concerned about the decreasing opportunities for recess, Glynn collaborates with “Say Yes to Recess,” a group advocating for more recess time through legislative support. Originating in Tennessee, this group has successfully influenced the passage of one of the nation’s strongest recess laws and now operates in 16 states. Co-founder Kathryn Truman highlights the reduction of recess time to about 20 minutes daily in many areas.
Truman notes, “It’s been a slow squeeze on this block of time during the day that has usually no fiscal note attached to it. There’s no budget implications. It’s just kind of an easy block of time to hack away at.”
In North Carolina, policies do exist to safeguard recess time. The State Board of Education’s “Healthy Active Children” policy mandates 30 minutes of physical activity daily for K-8 students, although this includes PE classes, which differ from free play.
However, Glynn observes that the 30-minute recess often falls short. At his son’s school, Collinswood Language Academy in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, transition times, bathroom breaks, and snack times are included in the recess duration.
“When you actually measure the minutes of true, outdoor, unstructured free play, that’s probably closer to 15 minutes, give or take,” Glynn remarked.
Glynn has urged CMS to either adjust the timing to count only active play as recess or to extend the recess duration. CMS has not commented on this request.
Similarly, Jana Hess, a Chapel Hill-Carrboro School District parent, has noticed a reduction in recess time, stating, “It’s not enough outdoor time. It is not creating the dynamic you want within the body from a psychological perspective of, you want dopamine release, you want this, you want that, you want unstructured play.”
Recess proponents often cite the LiiNK Project from Texas Christian University, which reveals a 40% reduction in “off-task behaviors” and a 10% improvement in standardized test scores by fourth grade. Other studies support the cognitive and academic benefits of recess.
Cathy Ramstetter, a school health consultant and founder of Successful Healthy Children, underscores the importance of recess for skill development. “That’s their time to practice the things we teach them, whether that’s a physical skill, whether that’s an interpersonal skill, that’s a communication skill, that’s a conflict resolution skill, that’s a decision-making skill,” she emphasized.
UNC-Chapel Hill professor Iheoma Iruka supports more recess time but cautions against exacerbating existing pressures on schools. “We’ve seen a huge loss in teachers, a huge turnover in teachers,” Iruka stated. “I want to make sure that it doesn’t create other sort of challenges that were not anticipated.”
In North Carolina, parents like Glynn are in the early stages of advocating for change. A petition advocating for more recess time has garnered nearly 500 signatures, with parents beginning discussions with local school leaders.
Back at the Ballantyne Bowl, the Glynns’ cardboard sliding experiment attracted other children, showcasing the joy and creativity that recess can bring. As Holden shared, “I love to play with my friends every day.”
