Recess is Not a Field Trip

What would you say if I told you that a select group of children is leaving school every week for special field trips in the middle of the day and then returning to class? 

As of this May, more than 50 children are leaving Emerson Elementary school in Everett on a weekly basis. They're being shuttled to and from an off-site location where they are sitting in chairs instead of engaging in unstructured play. 

Don't worry, they're not missing any core educational time....just lunch and recess.

There are people who argue that children need more time for unstructured play and more time to eat lunch. In fact, the OSPI in Washington just imposed a mandatory 20-minute sit-down time for lunch, because they feel so strongly about it.  The CDC supports this and even encourages MORE time for lunch.

But LifeWise thinks elementary school kids, including kindergarteners, benefit from sitting in a different classroom, with adults directing what little "play time" they have. Instead of running around outside with their friends, allowing them to have just a short period of time where their minds can be free and their bodies relax, they must focus on new lessons. Focus on lessons on the bus, focus on lessons in another classroom while simultaneously eating, focus on lessons during structured play, and focus again on the bus ride back to school where they must immediately get back to the classroom.

I have heard ad nauseum by LifeWise supporters: “if families OPT IN, then why does it matter to other kids or families?”

Two weeks ago, while volunteering at the school during lunch, I noticed a child sitting by himself with a stretch of 5 feet of empty table and chairs around him. While the rest of the lunchroom was enjoying food in community and conversations together, he was sitting alone and looking around at other tables rather forlornly. Over half of his class goes to LifeWise.

Seats are assigned for lunch and are arranged by individual class, so on LifeWise days, he sits all by himself, surrounded by the empty seats left by LifeWise participants and is not allowed to talk to kids at other tables, or move seats. Honestly, it kind of looks like a punishment. This kid, in particular, is one of the most social kids in that class! He is regularly engaged in play with 10-12 other kids during recess. How do you think it feels to him to be isolated at a table like this?

THIS is why it matters. It matters to the children who don’t understand why one group of kids is allowed special privileges in the middle of the school day.  This is the only program that operates this way at the school. Anyone who has been an elementary school kid understands how hard it can be to feel excluded. That’s exactly why this program exists in the way it does. The goal is for kids to see it happening in the middle of the day and beg their parents to let them join.  

The desire to BELONG far outweighs other motivators. If you have any sort of program operating in the middle of the day in an elementary school, kids are going to want to participate, even if their families do not opt in.

I maintain that this element of division in the middle of the school day is counter to creating a feeling of safety and belonging for all children. There are plenty of opportunities before and after school and on weekends for this program to operate. But LifeWise won't do that because disrupting the school day and ostracizing kids who don't participate is the point.