To the Editor:

“All right, kids, time for recess”! All of my elementary teachers said that, but, now, in middle school, I have not heard that once.

We sit down in a chair for six hours or even more in school and only have physical-education class once every other day.

On the days we don’t have gym, I get really restless because I have not moved around very much in over a few hours. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Students need about one hour of physical activity every day to remain healthy.”

When I was in elementary school, my favorite part of the day was always recess, but now it is P.E. because we don’t have recess any more.

I talked to one of my teachers and she said, “I think it would be better to have recess than to have access (study hall) because it would be better for kids to get active.”

I agree because studies have shown how important it is to get active.

Also, kids who get at least one hour of exercise a day tend to have higher grades. Researchers in the Netherlands report that children who get more exercise whether at school or at home tend to have higher grades than other kids who just sat around playing video games. These studies tell me that it is important to stop sitting and move around so that your blood flows and keeps your brain and heart working well.

If I were a teacher at Farnsworth Middle School, I would give my kids recess for the reasons above.  But, I do see why teachers don’t give recess. Teachers have a lot of information to teach, and they don’t have a lot of time to do it in, like, when we had to take the English Language Arts exams, it took up a lot of time.

Teachers might feel like there just isn’t enough time to teach what they need to teach and have recess. In the long run, you will end up doing better on tests and homework if you take a little time to be active.

So now is the time for America’s students around the country to get up out of their chairs and go out for recess.  “All right, kids, it’s time for recess.”

Luke Tanner

Guilderland