I am not sure if this is a nationwide problem or a local one, but I do know that it is a present problem.

My seventh grader has 30 minutes for lunch, that is his only break during the school day besides the 3 minutes he has to get between classes and his locker if needed. More than half of the time he says he does not have enough time to make it through the line for food. There are so many children in his grade they split between two lunch times and yet, when there’s testing they are combined. Combining an entire grade into a situation where it is already difficult to buy lunch is bananas. Yes, I know I could pack lunch for him every day, he likes the options at the school.

My first grader has two recesses, one just for playing and then one during his lunch break. He has plenty of time to eat but not a ton of play time to be outside. I personally do not understand how they expect children to focus and get enough time outside to be kids when they are stuck in classrooms for 6-8 hours a day with tiny little breaks.

I do understand they are trying to put as much learning as possible into the day; would people really be up in arms if they add an hour to the school day to include more breaks and outdoor time? I would think that adding the hour for extra breaks and time to run around would be good, there are many working parents who either have to figure out child care for after school or arrange their schedules around it. For the families that don’t get home until dinner time because of jobs it’s usually not a great time to play outside during the fall and winter months.

Of course there’s the argument for after school activities and allowing time for that and if a person is set on having outdoor time than you can sign them up for those. Here’s the thing though, those things usually cost money, not all families have the ability to pay for all the things that go along with those. My children are hyper-mobile so they have crazy ligaments that move too much which makes injuries more likely and more severe. They have been told not to play contact sports, no soccer, no football, rugby, so that really limits the options in our house.

Do you have an opinion on the current amount of breaks for kids at school? I would like to hear them!