When schools reopen in the fall, students and adults will return carrying stress and trauma arising from the sudden school closings, the social isolation, and the illness and unrest that many experienced over the summer. Rebecca London urges elementary school leaders to attend to students’ mental health and emotional needs by offering recess time every day. The need for play will be especially great among students of color and students in low-income areas, many of whom had insufficient recess time in school before the pandemic.
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4.
LondonR.A. (2019a). Rethinking recess: Creating safe and inclusive playtime for all children in school. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
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LondonR.A. (2019b). The right to play: Eliminating the opportunity gap in elementary school recess. Phi Delta Kappan, 101 (3), 48–52.
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LondonR.A.WestrichL.Stokes-GuinanK.McLaughlinM. (2015). Playing fair: The contribution of high-functioning recess to overall school climate in low-income elementary schools. Journal of School Health, 85 (1), 53–60.
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StolbergS.G. (2020, June7). ‘Pandemic within a pandemic’: Coronavirus and police brutality roil Black communities. The New York Times.
8.
VogelS.SchwabeL. (2016). Learning and memory under stress: Implications for the classroom. Science of Learning, 1 (16011).
