This article on recess in Maine public schools sounded typical. (Except for the lunatic who blamed dwindling recess time on feminists- not unlike a former co-worker of mine who blamed employed women for WW II, but I digress. . ::boggle::)
At Carter’s school, they aren’t allowed to play tag either, and the play equipment is just sad. When we go play there after school hours, there’s a pretend cabin that’s pretty cool, but that’s only allowed to be used for educational purposes, something no student has admitted seeing. Who has time for a log cabin when there are I-STEPS?
We’ve forgotten how much we learn from play
During recess, I read books, jumped rope, concocted evil plots, discovered why those plots would eventually fall flat, spied, made friends, lost friends, cried, laughed, ran, fell down, tried to jump to the sky from a swing– I learned about physics, social norms, humor, literature, problem-solving and sneakiness. All from being allowed to be a kid.
When we lose faith in what our children can learn just from life (and in turn, what they can teach us) we lose faith in our humanity.