Do you remember the good old days in elementary school when the lunchroom doors would open with a rush of kids racing to the playground? Well, experts have proven that recess had many benefits on our academic achievement and personal development during these times.

So how come the tradition of recess has to end once students reach secondary schooling in the Derry Township School District?

The Early Childhood Center and the Elementary School here in Hershey have a multitude of patterns for recess, with the younger grades having up to 3 breaks per day and upper-level elementary students having one recess break after lunch. As kids, having these slots of time throughout the day to wake up and keep energy high is beneficial for the mental and physical development of a child, as well as socially.

Developmentally, recess provides a multitude of positives. According to the National Library of Medicine, physical activity during recess has shown better rates of attention spans, an increase of more on-task behaviors regarding school work, and overall improved academic performance. This is especially important because academic success is the groundwork for skills you will carry with you for the rest of your life.  Experts have also found increased cognitive function when students engage in physical activity. Harvard Health Publishing research shows that exercising at a moderate intensity, like brisk walking for 150 minutes per week, can increase cognitive function significantly. Specifically, Dr. Scott McGinnis, assistant professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School, said, “It’s likely that other forms of aerobic exercise that get your heart pumping might yield similar benefits,” but be patient, as the full results of your hard work may take six months or more to be revealed.

So if younger children can reap the benefits of recess breaks during the school day, why should middle and high school students have these opportunities taken from them? According to The Tree Top, teenagers these days have an average attention span of 28 to 42 minutes. For many students, this struggle with attention severely impacts their academic performance, something that could be fixed by a break during the day. The hormone Oxytocin is often released during exercise, which can decrease feelings of stress, help you regulate social interactions, and increase memory functions, according to Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. If high school students could have a recess break during the day, many schools could see an increase in academic achievement, social skills, and mental health.

If you want to see a change in HHS’s operations by adding a recess break during the school day, you can visit the school’s online directory for the School Board members contact information.