Do Elementary School Kids Need More Snack And Recess Time?

[tanuki1985]

I figured I'd place this thread here since it is about a debateable topic - kids and more snack/recess time.

I work full time at a few different elementary schools as a substitute employee. I actually don't mind the job -- it can be quite fun, and generally speaking, little kids are awesome. I usually do 1st-3rd grade, but I am willing to do kindergarten-5th grade. It definitely beats working retail.

However, there is something I notice in every single school that really irks me. I'm only 22 (will be 23 in October), so I wasn't in elementary school that long ago. Aside from kindergarten (we were given a pint of milk), we never had snacks, and we only had one recess, which was during lunch. The only time we had an additional recess was if we had a really nice teacher who wanted to reward us for being super nice or something, which was pretty much never since we were little shits.

These days, kids seriously have three recesses and snacks all day long. I've had classes where kids had a recess in the morning, a recess at lunch, recess in the middle of afternoon, and a short recess before school got out. They had snacks before every single one, except lunch, where they ate an entire meal instead. The sad thing is that I'm not even kidding or exaggerating. How are they supposed to get anything done?

The thing that sucks most is how these kids have one-track minds. Kids will seriously walk in after the morning bell rings and say, "Hi Miss Substitute, how many more minutes until snack?" In the middle of assignments or while I'm explaining the next assignment, kids will come up to me or yell out, "when's snack?" or "when's recess?" They have one-track minds. Food, recess, food, recess. Sometimes the only way we can get wild kids to cooperate is to threaten to take away their recess. As soon as I say that, then they're determined to get that twenty minutes in the freezing cold weather. I've actually gotten to the point that kids have asked me so much that I've had to say to the entire class, "No one else ask me when snack is or else you're losing recess." Seriously, it's that bad. And I'm a very laid-back person.

I recently talked to a paraprofessional who's been working in different elementary and middle schools for twenty years, and she said that since I've been out of elementary school, naggy parents have pushed and pushed for more recess and snack time. She said that kids act the same with regular AND substitute teachers, and that they're literally lost when they get to middle school because they don't get tons of snacks and recess time. I guess I just don't understand why parents want to complain that their kids aren't learning a lot, but then they push for more time for the kids to do nothing. Sure, I understand that exercise is good and it's nice to take mental breaks, but shit, do 5th graders really need to go outside and play on swing sets and monkey bars four times a day? I thought only kindergarteners needed that.

I think there are a few other school employees on here. If so, how do you feel about this? Parents (and non-parents), what do you think? Should kids sacrifice class time for more "mental breaks?" I'm curious to see what others think about this.

[Msterbeau]

My kids are in Southfield schools... grades 2 and 4. I'm pretty sure they only get lunch and recess at the same time... no other significant breaks. Not totally sure about that , but.. yeah... three beaks sounds a bit suspicious. Snacking a little every few hours - with no big meal - is supposed to be good for ya. I could live with that as long as it wasn't too disruptive.

[Hellion]

Years ago in grade school,we would have one morning recess, lunch/ recess,and a 10 minute recess,my how things have changed.

[Rev.Reverence]

Years ago in grade school,we would have one morning recess, lunch/ recess,and a 10 minute recess,my how things have changed.

YES... I remember that...

Why a recess in the morning? Should we not push for a 'yoga' break every morning, I think that would do better...

...I also see this happening in thee adult world, many of my friends over the years, have more and more been into GRATIFICATION...ie. paying someone to cut the lawn (and bitch about how much it costs) instead of cutting it themselves, apparently because they do not have the time in between tv shows, and their grueling 40 hour work week (at a sit down job)..., or eating every time they get 'hungry' AND they then bitch about how much weight they are gaining every year...

YES THIS EXACT EXAMPLE AT LEAST 3 TIMES IN 6-8 YEARS

LAZY, is an epidemic, or pandemic, or both...in this country...and we are teaching our children young...

[n0Mad]

All the way through 8th grade we had classes, lunch, recess, more classes, and that was it. No snacks.

[sass_in_the_pants]

before school started the doors to the schhol were locked, so you played outside at that time. Then lunch, then recess, then back to cvlass and then you were out from school. I also don't remember there being multiple recesses or snacks. Though I do recall when there was a fire drill, you would have thought it was freaking Christmas at our school.

[TygerLili]

When I was in elementary school I'm pretty sure we had a long recess after lunch and a short recess in the morning and afternoon. I think one reason that elementary students get more recesses is that elementary teachers get less plan time than middle school or high school teachers do. Also, it seems logical to give the little kids more than one break per day. Three hours is a long time to sit with out a break for children that young.

Snacks, on the other hand...I don't even know how that works. Do they snack in the classroom or go to the cafeteria? I would think one lunch and one snack in a 6-7 hour day would be sufficient.

[creatureofthenyte]

I think I had morning snack, then lunch at lunch time, then recess, then back to class then go home. What you were talking about, definitely sounds excessive to me. At least they get to go outside and run around and burn off all that food they eat.