When I was in elementary school, recess was always my favorite part of the day. It was the time when all of my friends and I could get a break from the classroom and play soccer as if we were playing in the World Cup final. All of us tried to squeeze every last second out of recess before we went into the cafeteria for lunch, where we all argued about who scored the most goals and compared ourselves to the likes of some of the best soccer players in the world.
However, once 2018 came around and I moved on from elementary school to middle school, recess was never the same. And now, as a high school student, there is no recess at all.
While I’m not saying that recess should be a requirement for all students as it was in elementary school, I believe that there should be more availability during the school day for Staples students to release some of their stress through participating in sports. There is often lots of open space between the Staples gymnasium and the fieldhouse during the lunch period; this could be a great opportunity to set up some fun activities that students can participate in during their lunch period.
This option for physical activity can also help students perform better in the classroom. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Students who are physically active tend to have better grades, school attendance, cognitive performance (e.g., memory), and classroom behaviors (e.g., on-task behavior).”
I believe that outside of gym class, Staples High School concurrently does not offer enough options for exercise throughout the day. The current ratio of schoolwork to exercise in a school day is astronomically one-sided to the point where the option for physical activity can prove beneficial to students.
Whether it’s offering up the athletic fields or courts to students during a free period or setting up activities during the lunch waves, I think Staples can do a better job of providing resources as well as encouraging their students to be more active, and thus more efficient in school.
