Hello! I am a student at West Ridge Middle School, and the change that I would like to make is to have recess at my school. Recess is a very important activity for a child’s development because of its countless social, emotional, physical, and mental benefits, such as improving students memories, increasing their attention-spans and concentration, helping them to gain more brain connections, and even reduces disruption in the classroom, according to the CDC and Scholastic. Furthermore, since recess is unstructured play,  it encourages kids to use their creative-thinking skills, which helps them to become critical-thinkers as adults. Research shows that recess can help to retain information in students’ brains, the American Heart Association says. It can even help to improve schoolwork, according to MiracleRecreation.com,”Recess has even been proven to help kids improve their schoolwork, as shown by this quote on Miracle Recreation.com, in which they said in the article,”Growing up, your parents probably told you to finish your homework before you went outside. It turns out, your parents may have been wrong. Studies show that even letting a child play outside for as little as 20 minutes makes it easier for them to deal with homework and school assignments when they come back inside. When your kids get home, let them put their school books down and go outside to play. It helps them release pent-up anxiety and frustration and encourages them to relax when they tackle homework.” 
Emotionally, recess creates an environment for kids to let out intense emotions in a healthy way, such as pumping your legs back and forth on the swings, and it can also improve a child’s self esteem, as physical activity has been shown to be a confidence booster, according to Medium.com, and an article by MiracleRecreation.com agrees, stating that,”When kids on a playground climb a ladder or swing from monkey bars, it provides a challenge for them. They’re not necessarily easy tasks. But when a child overcomes them, as they swing the entire length of the bars, it gives them a sense of self-esteem and confidence. Whether they’re playing alone or in a group, play provides kids with the confidence to interact with others or play on their own.” In addition, recess can also bring out emotions that wouldn’t be in other environments, such as the boredom that occurs as a child waits for their turn on the swings, which can help to build up their patience.
A quote from Rollarcoaster.ie supports this, saying that,”Rough and tumble play activates the parts of the higher brain which regulate emotions, which helps children to manage their feelings better.” Research proves all of the information above correct, and according to Edutopia.org, recess lets children learn how to manage their own emotions and behavior, which are crucial and fundamental skills that we will use later on in life. Some of the social benefits of this activity are that it helps children to learn to cooperate with their peers, helps them to learn social norms while playing a game, helps kids to learn how to negotiate with each other, helps them to communicate with each other, and exercises leadership, Dr. Olga Jarret, a leading researcher on recess and an associate professor of early childhood education at Georgia State University, states. “Recess is the only place in school, maybe the only place in their social life, where kids have the opportunity to develop social skills with their peers,” Murray, a former chairman of the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on School Health, says.  

On a Friday in February, my school had Medieval Day. After eating at a banquet, watching birds soar through the gym, and getting to play Medieval-inspired games, a classmate of mine said that the best part of their day was not any of those things, but the fact that they got to go outside and run around for a bit. In the younger grades, recess was the part of the day where I could play basketball, build a village in a sandbox, and talk to my friends. Rollarcoaster.ie says,”Playgrounds provide an opportunity for children to practice their social skills, to come up with solutions to problems, and to learn self-control in working out their conflicts,” and recess definitely helped me to do that, as I learned how to resolve the conflict that would occasionally arise during our conversations. Speaking of the younger grades, the 5th graders will be coming in next year and they will have to navigate the strange, new terrain of middle school, so recess would be something familiar for them and it would also help them to make friends, as lunch can sometimes be intimidating for students, as some people don’t know where to sit, and recess can provide a place for kids to make friends before eating lunch, (which research has also shown that kids tend to waste less food if they have recess before lunch!)

An acquaintance of mine said that she would’ve known me if our school had recess, which shows how recess truly provides a time to relax, socialize, and exercise, which brings me to the next thing that recess benefits: physical health. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, they said that,”Recess is unique from, and a complement to, physical education—not a substitute for it. The American Academy of Pediatrics believes that recess is a crucial and necessary component of a child’s development and, as such, it should not be withheld for punitive or academic reasons.” Additionally, the organization also states that recess provides the recommended 60 minutes of exercise for children that can help to reduce obesity, and helps to lower the risk of getting cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Recess has more pros than just being a time for kids to talk to their friends and swing on the monkey bars and teachers to get a much-needed break. Recess has numerous social, emotional, mental, and physical benefits, even being an official right for all children, according to the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights. I have surveyed all of the teachers at our school asking if they would like recess or not at our school and the majority replied that they would. Along with the fact that teachers and students at our school would like recess,  8 out of 10 principals stated in a poll taken in 2009 that recess had a positive effect on their students, yet in 2020, more and more schools are taking it away from their schedules, which is why I would like you to help me bring it back to West Ridge Middle School with this petition. Thank you very much! :) :D