FLORIDA — A trio of bills are up for vote next year to deregulate public schools, and a portion of those bills includes changing current recess laws.

Under the current law, schools are required to provide 20 minutes of recess every day. The proposed changes would mandate schools provide 100 minutes of recess weekly, broken up however they see fit.

Some parents have concerns over how that could play out, and they’re asking others to reach out to lawmakers ahead of the vote, letting them know how they feel.

The Cox Family is one of them. In their house, school work always takes top priority, and Stephanie Doyle Cox spends many afternoons helping her son, Ethan, with his homework. 

While she says work is important, so is play.

“They’re not mini adults, they’re children. So it’s important to give kids free time to play, and learn from each other and not be directed by adults every minute,” she said. 

As a former teacher herself, Cox says she knows the difference a 20-minute break from school can make, which is why she’s worried about the proposed changes to recess.

“It’s going to make it so that teachers don’t have the flexibility to take their kids out for 20 minutes every day, that administrators are going to pressure teachers to have more seat time. And therefore they’re going to do 3-4 brain breaks a couple times a day instead of those 20 consecutive minutes of play, outside, that most kids really want,” said Cox.

Cox was part of the group of parents who pushed for the law in place now, and she says research at the time proved students do better with breaks, something she even practices in her own home.

As she and Ethan play a few games of ping-pong, Cox explains the benefits of these breaks — kids learning social skills, using their imagination, and getting away from their desk.

“Recess can be indoors, the way the language is written now. For example, when it was raining, and I was substitute teaching, I would do heads up 7 up, or four corners, or board games. Or the kids would build with blocks, so that flexibility is already there, so the law doesn’t need to change,” she said.

Ethan, who’s now in seventh grade, remembers recess fondly.

“There was football, there was soccer. I didn’t really get into football, but there was kickball and we played kickball a lot. I really loved playing kickball,” he said.

And it’s memories like those Stephanie Cox hopes future generations have the opportunity to make; memories of recess. 

The president of the Florida Education Association says while there are some concerning issues in the trio of bills, he doesn’t think parents need to worry too much about recess.

“The provision in this deregulation still requires 100 minutes per week, but gives some flexibility to schools and districts on how to accomplish that. Look, the reality of it is, I don’t think that this is that big of a deal in the big scheme of things because no school is going to do 100 minutes of recess in one day, or 50 minutes in two days. In all likely hood it’s going to keep things pretty level with where they are now,” said Andrew Spar, president of the Florida Education Association.