Ga. Bill’s Goal: Improving Kids’ Bodies — And Minds — By Requiring Recess

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March 20th, 2019

Georgia House Bill 83 would make each elementary school establish daily recess for students in kindergarten through Grade 5. The bill “encourages’’ schools to make recess 30 minutes long. The American Academy of Pediatrics says recess “serves as a necessary break from the rigors of concentrated, academic challenges in the classroom.”

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Kids love school recess: Kicking a soccer ball, clambering up a jungle gym, chasing each other on a playground.

And such unstructured play is not just fun, researchers say. Recess can help improve academic performance and reduce fidgety behavior and negative conduct in the classroom, health experts say.

Thirty minutes of recess may become the norm soon at elementary schools across Georgia.

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