Editorial: When, sadly, no one’s ‘it’

Monday, Dec. 17, 2007 | 7:09 a.m.

One Connecticut elementary school's banned behavior includes pickup games of tag, soccer, kickball and other unstructured recess play in which children's knees or feelings can get banged up. And, as The New York Times reported this weekend, recess isn't just becoming an endangered species at Connecticut's Oakdale School.

The structure - and in some places, the very existence - of recess is being called into question by school officials across the country. They worry that the child-led, rough-and-tumble games that generations of children have experienced could inflict physical and emotional harm. Children at Oakdale, for example, are encouraged to gently toss Frisbees and twirl in Hula Hoops. Balls are signed out only under strict adult supervision, the Times reports.

Honestly.

After being confronted by an irritated cadre of parents this year, Oakdale's principal relented a bit and now allows fourth- and fifth-graders to play kickball twice a week - when parent or grandparent chaperones are present and as long as no one keeps score. Heaven forbid children actually experiencing the joy of winning.

Parents, teachers and public health officials say these rules and regulations not only take all the fun out of recess, but also diminish its value. They are banding together through a national campaign called Rescuing Recess, an effort that has won the support of the National Parent Teacher Association, the National Education Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Oakdale's principal defended his recess rules by saying that the children are still offered the chance to move around during gym glass and to spend recess walking the grounds with the school nurse or picking up litter, the Times reports.

It's bad enough that so little time is set aside for recess in today's schools, and that when it is available it is a poor imitation of its former self. Recess is about more than just moving around.

Unstructured play also helps children learn how to socialize, solve problems, use their imaginations and, yes, how to win and lose. Besides, how can picking up trash possibly be a substitute for dodgeball or tag?