No recess

Every piece of data suggests that kids learn through play. And yet, despite knowing all the evidence and facing an obesity crisis (as well as a mental health crisis), we continually attack physical education and time on the playground. It’s not that we don’t value these things; it’s that they are perceived as unproductive. Systems evolve over years, decades, and even centuries. Once the track we walk is set, it is hard to change. Bureaucracy builds to protect the status quo, not to change it.