In an April 14 Education Week post, reporter Evie Blad noted that the practice of taking away recess time as a punishment is a common practice. But, it seems, that’s changing ... in some places.

"More and more, schools are doing away with withholding recess for disciplinary reasons, pointing to research findings that unstructured play and exercise benefit students both inside and outside the classroom," Blad wrote before quoting Sara Zimmerman, the technical-assistance director of the Oakland, Calif.-based Safe Routes to School National Partnership:

"Physical activity and unstructured play, those things are not luxuries for kids. That's a key part of how kids learn and how they grow."

Blad noted that about a dozen states have now banned schools from punishing children by taking away recess, and Minnesota lawmakers are currently eying a similar prohibition.

Teachers at some schools also withhold gym, music and art classes as punishment, adding that in many cases they don’t have much else to lord over misbehaving kids.

Parents and educators often band together to fight for funding for gym teachers and art teachers and music teachers. We stand up at board meetings and hold up signs saying these classes are key components of a quality education. But then we allow schools – and ourselves – refer to those subjects as "specials," and to deprive kids of them when they don’t do as they’re told or expected.

We don't say to kids, "no math facts for you today, mister," when they spend too much time staring out the window (though surely some kids would find that a painful punishment). And we don’t say, "OK, no spelling test for you this week" when little Billy talks during a lesson.

Which is it? Is music an important window into science? Is art key to self-expression? Is physical activity important for concentration? Is the power of play at recess developmentally important? Or are those things mere frosting on the math-reading-science cake and exist solely as behavior bait?

I understand that, many times, teachers cringe while resorting to this policy. They don’t want to do it, but it can be – or seem to be – the sole option. Take this comment from educator at a City of Milwaukee-chartered school on the South Side...

"I wish there was another approach. I try to avoid keeping kids in from recess to do their work, but sometimes I do have them work during their recess. I wrote my grad school paper on gym, recess, opportunities for physical movement and exercise and the effects on academic performance. Yet, I do sometimes resort to having them work at recess if they aren't getting work done. It's rare that a child stays in often. Usually it's kind of a wake-up call to help them be accountable."

This is an issue across all sectors.

"As a parent, I hate that teachers do it," said Emily Peters Schoenfelder, a parent of students at an MPS charter, on Facebook. "I consider time outside equally important in my child's day and not something to be held over their heads. Recess has a purpose. It's not a reward and denying it shouldn't be a consequence."

"It's a bad idea for the same reason denying English or math as a punishment is a bad idea," Melissa Mussante commented. "It's part of the education. This punishment was imposed on my daughter last year at a private school. She no longer goes there. I have zero tolerance for such bad choices by educators especially when paying top dollar for that education."

Blad pointed out that some teachers have pushed back on efforts to ban the prohibition of recess as punishment in schools.

"There are times," she wrote, "when taking away recess time ‘is the logical and natural response to behavior,’ Cathy Campbell, the president of the Berkeley Federation of Teachers, told the school board at a November meeting. ‘We don't want it to be impossible for teachers to use this tool, because there are times when it is absolutely the right tool’."

However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends at least 20 minutes of recess daily for elementary school students, and the American Academy of Pediatrics concurs that physical activity is a requirement not an elective.

"Recess," Blad quotes an AAP report as saying, ‘should not be withheld for punitive or academic reasons. ... A growing trend toward reallocating time in school to accentuate the more academic subjects has put this important facet of a child's school day at risk’."

But, while parent Jenny Plevin also disagrees with the practice – "it is a question of health, and a need, like food. So, if we wouldn't take food away, we shouldn't take recess" – she asked a key question in her post:

"What are other tools available to teachers for management?"

Here’s a chance for educators and parents to work together to find other solutions, other tools. Let’s do it while the kids are at recess.