Recess is going away

[SoccerMom]

Parents, are you aware that taking away recess from an entire class has become the preferred method of discipline at Bay Elementary? I have experienced this all year with my 2nd grader, but now have heard that is is actually acknowledged by the administration as a primary method of discipline. I am very unhappy with this and am in the process of making my voice heard. Boys cannot sit in desks all day long and then miss recess! This is so counter-intuitive and makes no sense! Acting up in class and fidgeting? No recess for you! I'm begging you other parents out there to make you voices heard....Call the school, call the superintendent. This has to stop.

[tistheseason]

Agreed! Good behavior earns extra recess time at my son's school. But recess time is never, ever taken away!!

[idlewind]

I guess you are advocating dusting off the paddle and punishing only those who misbehave with a quick swat?

[Zebraspots]

I am all for creative punishments, but recess is good for both behavior and health.

[Jim Tucker]

Let's take away their food next.

[30A Skunkape]

If the logic is that running around helps hem behave, I propose that when they fidget they go for a set of wind sprints. That'll teach the little buggers to writhe.

[idlewind]

If you do not have control of the classroom, how can you teach anyone anything? Discipline is not the enemy of enthusiasm. But without discipline you have no control. Do not blame the teachers for low test scores if you take away their tools to maintain control.

[LuciferSam]

If you don't eat yer meat, you can't have any pudding. How can you have any pudding if you don't eat yer meat?"

[SoccerMom]

No, and for the record, I'm not attacking teachers either, I just think this is a misguided effort with good intention behind it. Positive reinforcement always works better with young children. Anyone who has kids under 15 will tell you that it is so ridiculous to expect them to sit in desks all day with no outlet for their energy or creativity. And the thing that bothers me most is that the entire class loses recess, not individual offenders. If you ask me, it would have a stronger effect if you made the misbehavors sit and watch the others at play. I myself went to Catholic elementary school and our classrooms were very disciplined, but I don't recall the entire class EVER missing recess as punishment. I'm just looking out for my kids....

[SoccerMom]

I suppose any issue is a chance for quippey cute comments, obviously you are not the parent of an elementary school student.

[Gidget]

Taking away any chance of physical exercise is absurd. Recess when I was growing up was all about running around so that when we did return to our chairs our heads were cleared and we were ready to focus. How about taking away soda privileges?

[Gidget]

If you don't eat yer meat, you can't have any pudding. How can you have any pudding if you don't eat yer meat?"

Actually this comment is pretty much spot on (you just have to know the song) [my fav is High Hopes Lucifer]

[SouthernBelle]

I can vouch that this is definitely a county wide thing. My youngin has went to 2 schools in Walton county, although Bay is not one of them. We actually wanted to move to Okaloosa County at one point because it appears the superintendent here has never raised children. (Sorry Mrs. Anderson but that's how you appear) If that place was not ran over with sex-offenders we would not be Sowallers. We had to pick the less of 2 evils and ridiculous schooling beats pedophiles.

Anyway I agree it is stupid to take away their social time and physical play.

[Beach Runner]

In our county in GA they are getting rid of art, music, and theatre.

[Danny Glidewell]

I have been a member of the Republican Party most of my adult life. But I do not belong to the Republican Party nor do I owe it blind allegiance. I am troubled by the direction of the party and frankly appalled by the actions that some in Tallahassee have taken in its name.
I firmly believe in the ideals of limited government espoused by Reagan and Goldwater. But I look around and see a governor and legislature that claim the mantle of Republican pass a law that allows bureaucrats in Tallahassee to have more say over how our teachers are paid and even how their job performance is evaluated than our elected local school board. How can you say you are for limited government and government closest to the people and then vote for this? How can you vote for a law that allows Tallahassee bureaucrats more say in whether our children are promoted from one grade to the next than our local teachers, administrators and Superintendent? Is this what now passes for government by the people?