Agroup of concerned parents met with state Assemblyman Joseph Malone (R-Ocean, Monmouth, Burlington, Mercer) in his office in Jackson on Nov. 21 to discuss the idea of making student recess mandatory in all New Jersey school districts.
During the meeting Malone presented the parents with a proposed bill that would establish a task force to examine the issue of school recess.
After listening to the parents state that their children do not receive recess on a consistent basis in conjunction with their lunch period, Malone said he would try to sell the issue to his fellow legislators.
“When this issue came up, I just never thought they (schools) were not allowing kids to have some type of recess usually in conjunction with lunch. I am trying to give you all the opportunity to absolutely sell your issue to legislators who are as unaware of it as I was three years ago,” said Malone, himself an educator.
He advised the parents that in order to sell the issue they would have to raise the level of awareness.
“You’ve got to convince 41 people in the Assembly and 21 people in the Senate, and probably 75 of them right now could not care less about the issue,” Malone said. “On a scale from one to 10 it’s not even a one. All I am asking you to do is go through a process where you bring this issue up to a five or six on their radar. And you do that by networking and having a consensus group get together.”
Malone asked the parents to review the bill he said he would propose in the Legislature.
The bill would establish a task force on public school student recess. It states that “it will be the duty of the task force to examine current data, research, programs, and initiatives related to the physical, social, emotional, and intellectual benefits achieved by young students as a result of participation in school recess; identify effective strategies for schools that promote lifelong health and prepare children and youth for physically active lifestyles; examine the extent to which recess is provided to students in school districts across the state of New Jersey; and develop recommendations on the advisability of mandating daily recess in all school districts.”
The task force would issue a report on its findings to the governor and the Legislature.
Leslie Kinsella, of Middletown, blamed the lack of recess in some New Jersey schools on the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
“Since No Child Left Behind (was signed into law), our teachers and our schools are under pressure to solely increase test scores. A state mandated recess would illustrate the social, health and academic importance of recess and give our schools and teachers freedom to bring back recess,” Kinsella said.
Howell parent John Mazza shared Kinsella’s sentiments and described the rigidity of his children’s lunch period when he said, “In our schools our children go to lunch, they have to sit there in basic silence while they are eating their lunch, at assigned spots, at assigned tables, in silence. And the last five minutes of lunch they are cleaning up and then they go back to class. I think prisoners basically have a little bit more social interaction than our children.”
Malone listened attentively and advised the parents to get ready for a fight. He said they will face opposition from all directions.
“Be ready to do battle. I want you to review the bill. Let me know if there are any changes you want to make and I will make them,” the assemblyman said.
Malone is planning to pre-file the proposed bill for the next legislative session which will begin in January.
“Once that happens it will get assigned to the Education Committee. I will push the leadership in the Assembly,” he said.