when we were in middle school, we could go outside to the school drive way for a few minutes after lunch. sometimes.

It was about 300 kids per grade and grades ate lunch one at a time. it probably was the best they could do logistically. but would have been nice if we could have eaten outside too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids would probably just sit around talking or be on their phones and not be active. I'm not sure it would accomplish much.

A quarter of them wouldn’t come back.

That's no different than skipping school any other time. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

Anonymous wrote:Kids would probably just sit around talking or be on their phones and not be active. I'm not sure it would accomplish much.

A quarter of them wouldn’t come back.

Anonymous wrote:This is such a bizarre thread.

My daughter is in a LCPS MS and has an extended lunch. Her and her friends eat, then play either soccer or basketball. I really don’t see what the issue is. They get to socialize and are active during the day.

Same. I wonder if our kids go to the same school. Seneca Ridge?

This is such a bizarre thread.

My daughter is in a LCPS MS and has an extended lunch. Her and her friends eat, then play either soccer or basketball. I really don’t see what the issue is. They get to socialize and are active during the day.

lebron james

Mine has 25min after lunch

It’s 15 min and not recess like elementary school, more like an extended passing time. They can go outside for a few minutes if they want or it’s a good time to use the bathroom. There isn’t playground equipment. Break would be a better fit than recess but parents really fought for recess in MS so there you go.

The reason some are against it - there is nowhere for them to go and hundreds of middle schoolers together with unstructured time can lead to trouble. It’s a difficult age.

My 8th grader sprints outside for recess and maximizes all 15 minutes. He needs that mental break and time with his friends. His biggest regret this year is that NJHS has that period together and it’s the farthest possible location (library) from the doors to the back of the school so he feels like he has less time.

Anonymous wrote:Ok…k-8 private schools shouldn’t be a part of this conversation. That isn’t a “middle school” it is an elementary school that goes through 8th grade. It’s set up for recess, it is built in to the schedule for the entire school and classes are WAY smaller. The entire 6-8th grade is probably less than 100 kids.

Stand alone 6-8th grade public middle schools aren’t equipped for recess plus they have 700+ kids. This isn’t a fair comparison

+1

Ok…k-8 private schools shouldn’t be a part of this conversation. That isn’t a “middle school” it is an elementary school that goes through 8th grade. It’s set up for recess, it is built in to the schedule for the entire school and classes are WAY smaller. The entire 6-8th grade is probably less than 100 kids.

Stand alone 6-8th grade public middle schools aren’t equipped for recess plus they have 700+ kids. This isn’t a fair comparison

Our k-8 has daily recess for 6th-8th grade. They can access blacktop with basketball hoops and four square, a field, and an area with bars and monkey bars that is surprisingly well-used. They have a 15 minute morning recess and 30 minute lunch recess, plus PE 3x/week. If the weather is decent, most of the afternoon advisories end up outside, too.

On the days when recess is condensed due to assemblies or special events, the kids act very differently and get pretty feral. On the other hand, we do lose some kids in 6th grade to 6-12 schools without recesses and some of them cite not having recess as one of the reasons they want to go to those schools. Often those are the kids who would rather be on the bench with a book, don’t do well in free-flowing social situations, or have health problems that make being outside pretty uncomfortable.