Inside or outside for recess? It might not seem like one of those major education issues in public school policy, but it's something many districts are grappling with. And the No. 1 concern is students' health in school.
In the Anchor Bay School District, about 30 miles north of Detroit, elementary school children only venture out at recess if the thermometer reads above 15 degrees.
“We encourage the children to go outside,” said Diana Woehler, a second grade teacher at Ashley Elementary. “There’s no one to watch them if they want to stay in.”
A note from mom or dad will keep the child indoors, but recess isn’t the fun it should be.
“If they have a note, they can stay in the office,” Woehler said. “But if you don’t have a note, you’re outside.”
Children in grades K-2 will stay inside if their clothes aren’t weather-ready. In that case, teachers or administrators will call the parents and ask them to send their child to school with proper winter attire.
“But older kids,” Woehler said, “if they have no gloves, no socks, whatever, they’re outside. We figure they’re old enough to know better, and often are trying to look cool instead of stay warm.”
Safety Is Job One in Public Education Issues
Like most schools, Ashley Elementary keeps warm clothes on-hand if a family can’t afford them. Plus, teachers are on the lookout for kids not properly wearing their own gear. And according to a recent study by the American Academy of Pediatrics, it’s worth the added inspection.
“It is not unusual to see students without hats and gloves and with coats unbuttoned despite the cold weather,” the study said. “Because of this unreliability of childhood behavior, school systems must take extra caution and lean toward the side of safety for all children.”
Ashley Elementary goes the extra mile by restricting kids to certain areas of the playground that are cleared or groomed when ice and snow piles high. But there are times when, no matter the weather, teachers think kids should go out.
“When they haven’t been outside in days and they’re crawling off the walls, an aid will take them out for even five minutes, or for a quick walk,” Woehler said. “Just to get some fresh air and work off some steam.”
Further north, in the Grand Rapids Public School District, teachers agree that kids need playtime. But going outside doesn’t always work out.
“Our principals err on the side of caution, and that means teachers have gotten good at throwing together indoor activities,” said Susan Kriegar, interim director of communications for the district. “We’ve never had a complaint.”
The Sniffle Season?
Doctors and scientists have long been hunting for concrete evidence that winter really is cold and flu season. While they’re hammering away, moms and dads know for a fact that kids come home with the sniffles more in the winter than in the summer. It’s because of something called “cold stress,” a reaction the body has to cold weather. Shivering, congestion and runny noses may all be attributed to cold stress at some time in the season. When large groups of kids are cooped up for long periods of time, they tend to share those symptoms through normal play. Problem is, sometimes the runny nose isn’t from cold stress, it’s from cold and flu germs. These germs find a…well, warm welcome in the runny nose of another kid. Voila: A classroom epidemic.
Winter Warriors
Armed with plenty of tissue, the ski bums of the north have taught their children to cope with the cold. It’s not that they’ve built up a tolerance to colds, but their bodies don’t react as quickly to cold stress.
“They’re pretty well prepared for the cold,” said Ruth Goldsmith, principal at Petoskey’s Ottawa Elementary. “We have coats and mittens here if they need them, but kids around here are used to the cold, and so are their parents.”
Students stay indoors at recess if the wind-chill factor falls below zero degrees. Goldsmith also factors in icy or overly snowy circumstances, like the seven feet of snow that fell soon after Christmas.
“We certainly look at the playground conditions, and give the older kids the option to go out or stay in if it’s really iffy,” she said. Kids also have opportunities to work in the lunchroom or library, or have tutoring sessions at recesstime.
“We know that not everybody is ready for the cold,” Goldsmith said. “Kids can get sick when their bodies aren’t working properly. And sick kids don’t learn very well. We try to remember what our main job is, no matter if the sun’s shining or the snow’s falling.”