In the News

The sound of laughing children playing tag or hide-and-seek isn't often heard on the streets of Richmond's notorious Iron Triangle. Gunshots are too common, producing an unexpected casualty: Some kids have forgotten how to play.

Ask any elementary school principal what the toughest part of the day is, and most will answer with one word: recess. That’s because recess is when most trouble starts.

Brearn Wright Jr. remembers recess during his first year as principal of Clark Elementary School in Petworth as "like a MASH unit." "Recess time was the time the school nurse dreaded, because she knew she'd have so many kids waiting in the lobby" to be treated for injuries from fighting or falling, Wright said.

Play seems to come naturally to children. But in many American cities, kids are spending less and less time outdoors or playing organized sports. So, Sports4Kids is reintroducing basic games back to the school playground.

On a drizzly Tuesday night in late January, 200 people came out to hear a psychiatrist talk rhapsodically about play — not just the intense, joyous play of children, but play for all people, at all ages, at all times.

A new national report on recess sheds light on the importance of the traditional activity, while criticizing school systems like D.C.’s that neither devote separate funds nor have set standards for recess

A new national report on recess sheds light on the importance of the traditional activity, while criticizing school systems like D.C.’s that neither devote separate funds nor have set standards for recess.  

Some Bay Area inner city schools are trying to increase the amount of physical activity that students are exposed to. The program is called Sports4Kids and kids are not only healthier, but some are also learning what it takes to lead.

The largest of Baltimore’s small but increasing number of grant-funded alternatives is offered by Sports4Kids, an Oakland, Calif.-based nonprofit group that provides games and organized sports activities and teaches students to resolve conflicts peacefully.