In our classrooms across the country there are thousands upon thousands of children who are growing increasingly heavier. While part of the problem is the amount of fast food and junk food that children eat, a major contributor to this problem is the lack of physical exercise. In schools, the main source for exercise comes during recess. This beloved children’s favorite has been quickly falling out of grace and, as a result, children have less time to run around, be silly, and make a lot of noise without being chided.Schools should provide their students with more opportunities to get the exercise that they so desperately want and need. 

However, with the increasing pressure put not only on teachers but on students themselves, there is less time spent outside and more time sitting static behind a desk. Children, of all ages, have a lot of responsibility put on them to perform well in class, perform well on tests and to outdo themselves every time. There is the constant mention of SOLs, Benchmarks, SATs and ACTs that float around schools at certain times of the year. Just the mention of these tests causes anxiety in the lives of children. With such a strong emphasis put on these tests, there is pressure to spend more time inside the classroom reviewing the topics that will be tested. 

With this strong emphasis on standardized testing there are several things that are cut out of a student’s day to day activity. These include the Arts and other specials; however recess is also one of the first things to go. When a teacher says that recess will be shortened by five minutes so that whatever assignment at hand can be completed, the time it takes to complete the task ends up usually being longer and so the children suffer. Not only are children having less time to burn energy and help fight childhood obesity, they are also missing out on social skills that can really only be fostered when children are allowed to be on their own. 

While there are steps in place for states to mandate the amount of time that children spend outside, this is not enough. It is not enough to simply mandate that teachers have to take their students outside to allow them to exercise for a trivial period of fifteen to thirty minutes. I think that more has to be done, and I am not sure that government stepping in and creating mandates left and right is going to solve the problem. These mandates do nothing but add more regulations on teachers and on the students themselves. What schools need are less mandates and restrictions and allow teachers to know what is best for their students. 

In addition to recess, Physical Education (also known as P.E.) is also lacking in this country. While some counties (in Virginia) require a set amount of time each week for students to participate in a P.E. course, there are some counties that require very little time. Lawmakers spend time arguing over how much time that children spend doing some sort of physical activity; the children are suffering, sitting inside behind a desk waiting for those precious few moments when they get to venture out into the fresh air. Parents, Teachers, and those concerned with future generations of this great county need to stand up and tell our schools that our children need more time for recess. Our children need more time in Physical Education classes. Our children are increasingly growing heavier and it our job to help them create healthy lifestyles that will help alleviate this problem. So what can you do? Write your school board, write your superintendent, create groups amongst yourselves helping to educate those in power that by creating mandate after mandate that will not be implemented for at least three years is not acceptable.