 KaBOOM! Applauds New Initiative to Rescue RecessTime for unstructured play critical to child development
Washington, D.C. (March 13, 2006) -- The National Parent Teacher Association (PTA) announced today a partnership with Cartoon Network to introduce Rescuing Recess, a campaign to champion the importance of recess for kids and help keep and revitalize it in schools across the country.
"KaBOOM! is proud to support the National PTA and its new Rescuing Recess initiative. We know that play is a crucial factor in the well-being of children," said Darell Hammond, CEO and co-founder, KaBOOM!. "Kids who have the chance to play are healthier, they do better in school, and they play well as adults, too. If we want healthy, happy, successful adults, we need to be sure we create a world where kids can play and recess is a critical aspect of that world."
Despite evidence that playtime can be just as vital as classroom time to a childs social, emotional and educational development, nearly 40 percent of American elementary schools have either eliminated or are considering eliminating recess.
The goal of the campaign is to recognize unstructured break time as an essential element of the school day and to connect educators, parents, and kids as advocates to bring back or keep recess.
Rescuing Recess will be rolled out in phases. To kick off this multi-year campaign, kids across the country are being asked to write letters to their local and state school officials in support of recess. Using an online letter template available at http://www.rescuingrecess.com/, kids can express their own views about break time and let local school boards know that recess is important to them.
A new survey recently conducted by the PTA showed that nine out of 10 teachers say recess and the free time spent with peers is an important part of the school day and is crucial to a childs social and emotional development. Other key findings from the survey include:
- 99 percent of parents and teachers think recess is important for elementary school students
- Three out of four agree that recess should be mandatory
- More than half of PTA leaders think kids are less disruptive in class if they have recess
- Two-thirds think kids need unstructured play during the day
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