Around the world, there has been an on-going debate about whether there should be recess in schools, or not. In the US only a small percentage of schools have it. Though, studies show that children learn better after recess.

Adults have expected (middle school especially) kids to sit still, not talk, and not fidget. That is impossible. Our brain needs time to relax so we can actually learn, not memorize. Recess can help relax all of these conflicts, and let students have fun. They don’t even need to run around. They just need to look forward to something in their day, they need to just know that they can play if they want, talk if they want, whatever they want.

Children aren’t robots.

Kids aren’t in school to sit around getting info stuffed into our heads. We are in school for the long run, and hoping to get something out of it. But the best part about our current school system, we don’t learn. We sit in a classroom, memorize the material for the test, and forget it, because in our minds, we’ll never need it again. Sometimes, we find it hard to stare at a wall, supposed to be listening, but to not fidget and not talk to our friends. We are not robots.

Most of what we learn is a waste.

Now in some case scenarios, this isn’t true, but for most schools, it is. I am in eighth grade, and my science teacher was making us do a color sheet – for a grade. Stop expecting us to be adults and then treat us like children. From personal experience, I once asked my friend what she learned that day, she took two minutes to think of something, and the response; how to play a card game. Children spend half their lives in school, and after they get out, they don’t know how to vote, to go shopping, to pay off debts, and they aren’t prepared for the real world. The one that schools have ignored for so long.

I love learning

Some kids actually like learning. They are out there, you just have to find them. though, liking learning and liking school, is totally different. School doesn’t really help us learn anything. Recently, I came home and decided that I was going to re-learn sign language. I worked at it, and now I can speak it, but the sad thing, is that if I wanted to go to school to learn that, I couldn’t have. They don’t have an ‘option’ for that.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not hating on school. I have learned things from school. All I am saying is that they should make a more efficient system for children to learning. Even though this sounds impossible, I think students should get one on one attention, because every student is different. They learn differently, they see differently, they want to know different things. So when it comes down to learning, I think schools should only cover core subjects, because I think we are old enough now to make good decisions. If you make the choice to ignore learning, it is your loss, no one elses.