Incredible Shrinking Recess

How much time recess did you have for recess when you went to school? I remember three a day: morning, afternoon and lunchtime.

I don't need to tell you that such childhood freedom is history. According to the National PTA, students are lucky to get one recess period a day. Under stiff test-score pressure, nearly 40 percent of elementary schools are reducing or have already eliminating recess, the PTA says.

The organization joined the Cartoon Network to launch a national letter-writing campaign, "Rescue Recess," to persuade state and local officials to preserve unstructured break time for students. Parents and kids can find sample letters at rescuingrecess.com to send to lawmakers, along with other fun stuff such as an interactive poll of favorite playground games.

At least one school is trying to buck the shrinking recess trend. In Boston, a TV station found a school that still gives kids two 15-minute recesses daily,  -- a phenomenon so rare it makes headlines. "For children, they need time to play, get out, be themselves," says the principal. "And we cannot take that away."

Why don't more educators understand this? Aren't happy focused children better able to learn than antsy, bored, distractible ones?

How recess is faring at your children's schools? E-mail parenting@washingtonpost.com. I'll post some of your responses next week.

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