A Case For Recess

Remember back when we were children and life had so much promise and excitement? We jumped out of our beds and greeted each new day as an adventure. We never really knew what was going to happen but we had hope of something great.

In kindergarten we had our best friend, a caring teacher and snacks. We even got naps during story time. But the best was recess. A chance to run and play and really feel alive. We could whisper with our friends or chase each other around. There were no boundaries other than those that kept us safe from harm.

As we progressed through school recess became less important and was attached as part of our lunch hour as we entered higher grades. We were given gym class as exercise but these classes were structured and limited. There was no time for play for the sake of play. We no longer sat in a circle or laid on mats to listen to a story, we sat in neat rows and read quietly. We were being trained for what was to come.

By the time we entered the workforce the recess was a faint memory and lunchtime may have become microwaving leftovers in the company break room. We wake up not with the sense of wonder and excitement that we had as children but the sense of dread and the attitude of hating our jobs and wishing we didn’t have to go to work. We don’t get our mats anymore. We don’t even get the neat rows of the classroom. Many of us are alone in a cubicle, visually cut off from the others we work with except for that brief time in the break room when we rush to reclaim a glimmer of hope for something better.

Our days are much longer and recess has been regulated and renamed as the weekend. But that time is now filled with errands, cleaning and trying to catch up on sleep.

What happened to our sense of play? Now the world limits our every move and action. We can’t run around in circles just because it is fun. Can we sit in a park and sing at the top of lungs with our friends? Not without getting a lot of strange looks and possible a visit from the police. The playgrounds are made for small hands and bodies not those that have grown and learned how to work dutifully.

Some grownups have learned how to get around the restrictions placed on us by society and decorum – they have had children. They can build sandcastles at the beach, play on the swings and run around in circles until they are so dizzy they fall down. But they are not being immature or silly, they are being a good parent.

Why is it that being mature means suppressing fun? Why can’t we get our friends together for a bar-b-que and a great game of tag? As adults if we want to run around it is organized and comes with a paper number pinned to our chest. If we want to see how fast we can go we better do it on skis and not on a piece of cardboard down the stairs.

Parents watching their children play often have a look of love but also a hint of sadness as the recall their own youth and the joy they had when that bell rang and we were released outside to do whatever our souls found joy in doing.

We need to rediscover that excitement. The time when we leapt from our beds with the promise of a new day. Seek out ways to add a recess here and there in your own day. Skip down the hall to the break room. Put a toy on your desk (or in your desk drawer). Bring a favorite food from your childhood for lunch on occasion (every diet deserves a cheat day). Find a friend and play on the swings. Laugh just because you are happy. Read a comic book, watch a cartoon, draw a picture. And here and there, sneak a recess into your day.