Childs Physical and Social Development - Essay Example

The proper development of a child ought to involve the mental, social, and emotional growth of a child. These factors contribute to the overall growth of a child in a positive way, unlike when one aspect is given more emphasis than the others. This means that a child who develops social skills in a favorable atmosphere gets to develop their mental and emotional stability in a better way, as well. Consequently, banning recess hinders the active interaction that children have with their significant others. They get less time to relate with their classmates as well as other friends. Compelling such children to concentrate on their studies throughout the year would inhibit their emotional growth. This follows the minimal contact they have with their peers and significant others. Consequent to this, they face an imbalance in their development, which hinders their normal growth (Crowe n.p.).

Physical Development

Children in middle adulthood gain a lot of weight during their development than children at any other age. Consequently, exposing children to active play helps in minimizing the rates of obesity as the exercises assist the children in shedding most of the fats in their bodies. Active play can be achieved during school breaks when the children get enough time to play and do other activities that help in exercising their bodies. However, banning recess increases the negative effects of obesity on children as they rarely involve themselves in active activities. Therefore, banning recess contributes to the poor physical growth of children. It encourages them to be inactive as they spend most of their time in class, thus hindering their well-being. Additionally, allowing children the ability to walk around provides them with some exercise, which promotes their physical wellness (Crowe n.p.).

Importance of Symbolic Play

Symbolic play usually guided by older experts contributes greatly to the development of young children. Children in early childhood, for example, tend to advance their skills in a better way when they interact with people with more skills than they do. 

Given this fact, banning recess compels children to spend more time in class, thus hindering them from active play with older individuals. Furthermore, when they get to break from class for a few minutes, they interact with children who bear similar skills to them, thus inhibiting their learning ability. However, allowing the children to have adequate time with older friends can expose the children to people with higher skills, thus boosting their development (Crowe n.p.).

Cognitive Development

Recess allows children to break from the strains of attending associated with intense cognitive tasks. It offers them time to recover the energy they expend during their normal school periods, which helps in rejuvenating their mental and cognitive strength. Consequent to this, they cultivate enough strength to face another busy school session, hence increasing their level of concentration in school. On the other hand, banning recess constrains children. It keeps them from getting refreshed, thus lowering their morale to pursue their studies. Given that relaxation promotes the ability of students to perform excellently in class, greater attention should be given to allowing children to relax during school breaks, to encourage greater educational achievement derived from better cognitive development.

Development of Social Skills

Recess enables children to interact freely with their peers in play. During such times, they develop enhanced language skills that promote various abilities. Such abilities include the ability to lead a group as the children organize themselves in functional playgroups. The activities also induce the creativity of the children as they adopt various ways of solving difficulties in the playground. They also learn to negotiate when conflicts arise among them, thus enhancing their conflict resolution abilities, which are integral in life. Consequently, recess plays a vital role in the development of social skills that are difficult to develop in a structured classroom setting.

Stress Management

Following the free time that children get during recess, they get to mitigate the effects caused by stressful classwork activities. Recess enables them to develop mechanisms that promote their perseverance, and learn to cope with the challenges they encounter on a daily basis. Consequently, they develop the ability to interact with those in their surrounding in a positive and productive manner. This strengthens the need for recess in school as banning such periods exposes children to intense stress, which does not favor their development.

Conclusion

Conclusively, banning recess hinders the overall development of a child. Given that children spend a substantial amount of their day at school, engaging them in active physical activities promotes their well-being, and it should be promoted, rather than discouraged. Recess helps in ensuring that the children attain physical fitness, as well as the required social maturation level. More to this, restricting recess poses a number of health risks to developing children because inactivity breeds various health deficiencies, such as obesity. In addition to this, allowing children to have recess promotes their happiness. They get excited when they play with their peers, thus boosting their well-being. Consequent to this, I urge the school board to revoke their decision of banning school recess as it offers numerous disadvantages to developing children. The school should also promote the safety of children during recess, by ensuring that the children play under maximum supervision, to increase the positive attributes of recess.