What would our childhood be like that without recess? The feeling of knowing that we can take a break from our class work to go outside was breathtaking. In the passage “Playtime is Over” by David Elkind he states how schools are terminating recess. Because of this he feels that kids will never experience the “childhood culture”.

Elkind believes that if schools continue to terminate recess kids will never experience “childhood culture”. “This culture includes songs, riddles, and rhymes passed on by one generation of children to another”. When Elkind states his he is expressing how childhood songs and games have been around for centuries and these different songs and games bring kids from  all cultures together. I remember my first day of kindergarten. I was so nervous to make friends because I didn’t know anybody. My teacher Ms. Combs made all of us students sit on her alphabet rug and played different ice breaker games. After we did that she asked if any kids knew the songs Mrs. Spider. She then randomly called on me to sing the song. My peers then joined me and I received so  much gratitude from the class. This shows how songs and games bring kids together to educate on how to express themselves, become more imaginative and as welll have confidence.

Recess as well can teach kids life lessons. Elkind says “Children learned to settle their own quarrels to make and break their own rules and to respect the rights of others”. When Elkind says this his perception is that our parents can teach us everything lesson in the book, but sometimes there are lessons that kids should learn on their own. A show that I watched on TV called “That’s so Raven” relates to this topic. In the episode I watched Raven’s little brother Corey almost gets caught return a money key chain that he stoled from a toy store when he was peer pressured by his misbehaving friends. During the episode Raven’s parents let it be known that stealing is not a good deed. After feeling so much guilt about what he did Corey ends up almost getting caught returning what he took, but Raven ends up saving the day. This proves that every kid understands life lesson through their own experience, rather than learning and listening to their parents.

Terminating recess from schools can limit to children experiencing the “childhood culture”. Because of this children will never be able to know classic riddles and games. And as well children will not learn in their younger years how to find the proper solutions to life problems until their mid adolescent stage.