Too little recess, too many movies: NYC parents fume as screen time replaces outdoor play

Chandler Patton Miranda, a Brooklyn mom, pulled her son from his neighborhood elementary school this year. The last straw: The school kept its youngest kids indoors for recess as the older ones took the state English tests last spring.

Teachers told her son’s kindergarten class at P.S. 139 they were “too loud,” and they didn’t want to disrupt the testing conditions for the students in grades 3-5, Miranda said. Instead of playing outside, her son watched part of the Disney movie, “Wish.”

“They want kids to be docile and quiet. It’s a lack of creativity and a lack of prioritization of kids’ physical well-being,” Miranda said.

Now, they’ve traded their six-block walk to the Ditmas Park school for a six-stop subway ride to P.S. 456, the Elizabeth Jennings School for Bold Explorers, a progressive school that opened this year in Downtown Brooklyn. The kids there go outside everyday.

A growing number of New York City parents are frustrated by how frequently their kids spend recess indoors, often watching movies. Schools are not required to list or report their recess policies, much to the dismay of many parents, who want more information on how much outdoor time or play their children get during the school day. Many are concerned that it’s an equity issue: Kids who get less outdoor recess tend to be those in poor urban areas, studies have shown...

NYC parents angry over too little recess, too much screen time at schools - Chalkbeat