Is "Play" Important for Children? Or a Waste of Precious Learning Time?

Now think about this, guys and I really want your honest opinion on this. There's been rumors in numerous areas around the United States that they're cutting out recess and other "free play" activities from the curriculum of children, and even free time at lunch or that hour of study time in high school is becoming obsolete.

Do we really need play? An hour to study and cool off? Or is it a waste of time and money?

So according to this article I found in Washington Post that talks about what Free Time is to Highschool students at this school and why it should be eliminated, it says:

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There's a lot more juicy information on the article, so if you feel like doing some research and reading here's the link: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/class-struggle/2011/02/is_high_school_recess_a_waste.html

So does it really help to cut down break time since it seems to be a big waste of time and energy on the teacher's instruction time? An essay on a forum states this:

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Curious for more info? Go here to the Article: http://teenink.com/opinion/school_college/article/144274/The-Case-of-the-Vanishing-Recess/

So how does all this apply to children? Why does it matter so much that children have recess and a break time. There's a little paper I had to write for my college class, and it goes something like this:

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So what are your thoughts on this ladies and gents? Is a little recess going to hurt a kid after they've been confined to a desk all day long? Or is it beneficial to them?

 

Yeah, I agree.

People need to get outside and get some fresh air at least twice a day.
We don't have recess at my high school, but lunch is more than plenty of time.

In fact, during lunch I take a walk around the track the physical education classes use for jogging.

 

It depends on how you judge a person. If you only care about how much they know then by all means suck their childhood away and make them do nothing but learn and work. Then there is of course the actual important aspect of a person, their character. I don't care how smart someone is as long as they are a "good person". That phrase in itself is very narrow minded but not in this case. They don't have to do good deeds all the time as long as they aren't "bad".

 

Kids without recess/free time= No imagination . . . Okay let me explain. Kids should not have to go to school and get a crap load of homework without having a little break somewhere within. If you take away that break, don't make the day shorter, and give them more homework (a lot of schools are stepping up their studies) then kids aren't going to have any free time at all. I don't know about you but I don't want to see a toddler walking around in a suit with a briefcase. What I mean is, why should we make kids, younger and younger, closer to adulthood? Kids should be kids while they can. I wish I had some of those moments back, especially nap time. I grow so tired during the day I think it would be great just to take a good nap and decompress (I know I might study harder) Anyway, I digress . . . Kids deserve to have there free time. Too many times have I seen my friends, snap because they had too much pressure put on them. Taking away recess is not going to relieve that pressure.

Should kids have recess/free time in my opinion?
Yes

Should studies be important?
Yes, as long as it doesn't interfere with a child's well being.

 

It pretty much depends on the person. For example, I can't stand working for so long until I just say Fuck this and just start goofing around. I really hope they don't cut these things off, and as the first post said, a lot of students already use their free time to finish homework, study, etc.

 

Play is important to a person's growth, as is darkness, in sleeping. One should be concerned about mental health and stability more than simply test results. I prefer learning over being taught, and play constitutes a kind of learning. Free thought and independent study benefit the individual more than any other kind of teaching. Shoving information into minds benefits the organization, and not the individual being taught. Children need a drive to work, regardless, and the point of working is to provide for play. A passage from Discordian literature expresses my sentiments well...

 

despite what scientists say, we are human beings and social by nature. Kids have recess to exercise, play with and even make new friends. If those are gone, we might as well become living machines just gearing up to be put into the corporate engine. We learn more by doing it ourselves rather than someone telling us. It's what give birth to imagination and innovation. Some use it to play, some use it to get a headstart on their homework. But not giving them a choice is wrong to me.

 

I know that I cannot work for long periods in the day, I need to have breaks so relax, it's the common phrase "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy", we all need time for ourselves to maybe reflect or properly process the information we are learning, it's important to give the person free will with their breaks- if they choose to work it's of their own accord, maybe they are behind or really needed to work for some reason. I believe it's important to give the students a choice and taking away their breaks will just cause them to mess around and not work. Even in my 2 hour lessons sometimes my teacher lets us have 5 minutes to just relax- it's not time wasted, it's time well spent because otherwise even LESS work would be done.

 

having time to play is important for children. everyone deserves a break sometime during the day. i think having a break is beneficial to children and not detrimental. of course it's important to have a balance between work and play, as long as there isn't too much of one or the other, having playtime won't hurt kids.

 

Recess was probably equally if not more important than regular study/class time. Having that break really gave my mind a break. I mean, kids aren't getting stressed but it's incredibly monotonous. 1st grade through senior year of high school.

 

Also, childern learn through playing, it's how we develop social skills and the ability to co operate and work with others. I believe it's not only important to give your mind a break but also to learn through play, children play and learn through their games many things, it also helps them to bond and make friends so they aren't so isolated.

It does still continue into adolescence, we need other people so they can support us and make us feel good about ourselves- developing our self-concept. So therefore it is just as important.

 

All children need play. If you restrict your child from playing with others, they'll lack the social skills needed later in life. It will also help to calm the child down rather than stressing them out with the learning. While learning is most definitely needed at some point, in earlier life they really do need the social interaction more than anything.

 

I'm gonna take another approach. If children are not given time to play, they would not be used to play, and they might be more productive//focused (getting more stuff done over a shorter amount of time). Is that not a logic way of thinking?
As far as being productive as an adult. Disregard creativity and social skills, think of productivity. Am I wrong?

 

Productive, to what end? There is no reason to exist without play. Otherwise, you are producing just for the sake of production. Furthermore, what are they producing? Not art, that is a product of creativity. Cut out creativity and you cut out a means of production. Intelligence and productivity take many forms. And this ignores my argument about sleep. People need play in order to be healthy. It is the same reason why you should let your livestock out into the open air once in a while, if you are going to think of people as them.

 

It's hypothetical - I know we're not machines, but if we were not to have playtime, and rather have a short break (by break I basically mean just taking a breath), would we be more productive (in the sense we would be able to produce a product faster)?

By productive, I mean, as mentioned in a machine-like fashion. I didn't mean that you should disregard sleep, that is a necessity. I mean, basically if you "breed" people to hand-make something, sort of.
It's not morally right at all, It's just hypothetical.

 

I did not argue a moral position. Suicide rates will increase, if only by a bit, perhaps more, and the overall profit of society will drop. Art is the greatest motivator in existence, and it sells. Culture will die out, and with it, a civilazation. A machine has no will to run on its own. It will stall without enjoyment and emotion.

 

Suicide rates won't necessarily go down though, do you think? If you lack creativity, fantasy and wishes/dreams, and you have been given a role - don't you think that some suicides would be avoided, as some of the reasons (I think) for suicides is that people think they lack reason or that they are unable to aquire their dream?

If you were to "brainwash" kids, from the very beginning of their lives, that what they are, happen to be machines, would they not lack emotion?
Also, if you were to do this to only a part of the population, because we need "workers", why not "create" them?

Keep in mind whoever is reading this, this is purely hypothetical, I don't believe that this is a good thing to do, nor right morally, it's only toying with the idea