New structured recess for Edmonds students sounds suspicious

Taken from Wednesday’s edition of the Jason Rantz Show.

If you’re a family living in Edmonds and you have kids in the Edmonds School District, you’re going to start hearing stories from your son or daughter that their recess is being structured a little differently than it has been in the past.

Normally, this isn’t the type of thing that’s news, but I think the reason they’re doing it is pretty interesting. They’re making the changes as a way to address bullying and conflict amongst the kids. Now, we know some of the effects bullying has on kids, but it’s also important to note that, according to the Everett Herald, teachers spend between 15 and 30 minutes a day dealing with problems associated with bullying or conflict. The thinking here is also to help them better use their time.

The Herald writes:

“Next month, six elementary schools in the Edmonds School District will launch a program aimed at getting kids to be more active at recess, which, they believe, also will reduce bullying and increase kids’ readiness to learn.

The program will track whether the number of playground-related discipline problems decrease at the six elementary schools.

School playgrounds will have more clearly delineated activity zones, such as four square, hopscotch and basketball. There are specific areas for kids on the playground to do specific activities.

The areas set aside for a specific activity, like jump rope, will prevent conflicts with kids participating in nearby activities, such as basketball.”

In other words, we’re segregating the kids by their activity.

The program will be available this year at Cedar Valley, College Place, Oak Heights, Spruce, Brier and Mountlake Terrace elementary schools, according to the Herald. Each school decides when recesses are scheduled, but most elementary school students get 45 minutes of recess per day.

I’m not entirely sure how this will lead to less bullying and we’ll get to what the research suggests, but I want to again point out that they’re segregating these kids by activity.

Certain types of kids are more likely to be attracted to certain type of activities. The jock-ish kids will go play ball. The ones less interested in jock activities will go to the jump rope area. Aren’t you creating cliques and don’t cliques lead to bullying? Can’t you see the jock kids getting together to then later pick on the kids jumping rope?

If the boy decides to go jump rope instead of playing basketball or handball, the kid’s still going to be bullied and tormented.

A study in Pediatrics says there’s clear correlation between structured recess and better grades. A nonprofit called Playworks argues kids come back to class after recess ready to learn.

Stanford University and Mathematica Policy Research looked into the classes offered by Playworks and say there’s significantly less bullying when you increase physical activity in recess.

But we’re supposed to fact check everything right? Let’s look a little deeper into the study.

Playworks, this nonprofit, appears to have self reported a huge portion of the results of what they experienced to the study authors.

For example, Playworks coaches, employees of Playworks, were asked to talk about whether or not Playworks worked. From the study, “students from 13 treatment schools who served as Playworks junior coaches talked about their experiences as junior coaches and perceptions of Playworks.” They also worked with 14 Playworks coaches.

Not to say the data is wrong, but that study that’s quoted in the Herald has some conflicts and, as it turns out, all the results seem to suggest Playworks is amazing.

Findings from Playworks:

Schools have less bullying and exclusionary behavior. Teachers at the Playworks schools agree that Playworks reinforces positive behavior during recess (96%), helps students stay out of trouble (91%), and provides positive experiences for students during recess (99%).

Teachers perceive students to be safer during recess and engage in more inclusive play. Teachers reported that as a result of Playworks, students had learned new games to play at recess (97%) and learned the recess rules (95%). Most students reported engagement with Playworks activities (74%) and the vast majority reported enjoying Playworks activities at recess (89%).

So it’s worth a shot to see if that data can be replicated in the Edmonds School District, but call me suspicious on this. I obviously hope it works.

Taken from Wednesday’s edition of the Jason Rantz Show.

SK