Yesterday, I circulated a link to a story out of New Zealand about a school that has abandoned rules at recess as part of a study being conducted by two universities. I loved the story, as did a lot of other people, but I don't trust the love. While parents may do a lot of cheering for these posts, and help them go viral, I don't think we are ready to allow our own children to get physically dinged up or emotionally bruised. The post went live this morning at the Atlantic, here.
So...what do you think? Could you handle no-rules recess?
As a full-time public school substitute teacher, I labor under an "in loco parentis" responsibility imposed by the state legislature. I am always relieved when recess ends.
ReplyDeleteAny parents who advocate for the abandonment of recess rules need to place themselves in the position of monitoring not just one but many students, all the children of OTHER parents.