R U Ready, for this: R is for Recess, Restricted. 

Recess Redeployed: 🎶 Six geese a-laying; no children playing...I cry fowl!

Required Reading: And lots of other material that's most un-welcome. Which is how these gens, coming upon what was once a site for free-dumbs, realize that play is anything but, these daze. To fully appreciate the back-ground of play-grounds getting ground down, to a halt, requires a historical context, one that involves ...and one that necessarily begins with an attempt to answer some nagging questions, which takes us way back to how and why, the whole set of R's came into being...and then went...as in took a Right-less (or wrong) turn, depending on how, which perspective one adopts...

What's the (mis)use? That is, after Recess! was introduced as sort of supplementary (or complimentary, if you prefer) to the other R's that the whole educational establishment was initially built on, the core of which has kind of suffered from a strong force of nature known as erosion and become watered down... But I start at the beginning: 🎜A very good place to start..."When you read you begin with A-B-C; when you sing you begin with do-re-mi...𝅘𝅥𝅮" (Sound like Music?) A catchy way to get us to catch on, to the basics, the ones that also gave pause to the philosopher and esteemed educator W.T. Harris, as he raised the question of whether to retain or abolish...Recess! which had been introduced into the school day in 1884. After many sleepless nights and an email campaign from many constituents (may need a fact checker here, as I may find my-self a bit "out of order!" in this whole alpha-numeric process, of re-counting history) he came to the conclusion (which I imagine came to him from the far Recesses of his mind) that, I quote (according to History of recess/wordpress.com) "...the physical needs of the student outweigh the concerns over the loss of discipline...that the chief purpose of recess was to bring about the complete suspension of tension brought on by academics...." A quote that seems incomplete without the tender Library of Congress photo accompanying it, depicting the playmates swinging from ropes suspended from a pole, in what appears to be a well-worn un-paved fenced in area, with a few forlorn adult on-lookers...looking a bit envy-US I'd say...the look of what would come at US, in the form of...

Recess! Re-formers: A growing group of groaning grown-ups, who would not take their esteem colleague's word for it, who just would not, as out history taught U.S. -- that when things are solid state, if you can't resist being meddle-some, at least "leave well enough alone!"...as what we in the mental health biz were taught, as being "first and foremost"...at least, do no harm, OK? -- a phrase, at least the intention, attributed to the now hailed Hippocrates. So YOU, the so-called "do gooders" out there, who decided you knew what was/is best for U.S. growing children, what might make us prosper, both physically and mentally, let alone give us an opportunity to socialize outside, away from the peering eyes, the intrusive ears, of the adults ("we can finally talk above a whisper")...which adds up, if you would only ask us, to something that needs no modification, or what you, the so-called "social scientists" think could be improved on, as in "re-formed😟😡" (small r intentional) -- which, over the years, took on the fear-some sum of words "I'm here from the central office and I'm here to help" -- YELP! being a short, sharp cry, especially of pain or alarm. The kind that we eventually learned from those who profiled the profilers, might be more effective, under such circumstances, when/if we are approached, whether on the play-ground or wherever, by yelling "FIRE!" A counter-intuitive response that might bring more attention. If we had only known this before all those bureaucrats, number crunchers (budget busters, a punch in our collective gut!), came at us, through the lobby, into what's now oft referred to as the "kiosk"😕 -- we could of, would of, pulled the FIRE! alarm which would have sent everyone scurrying...now that would have been so COOL!😈😆 But no advance warning this time...leaving us in disgust and otherwise, literally, in the dust, when THEY got through with US. Left us crying out, yet another question, that continues to plague U.S. all throughout the land to this day...one that deserves to be at least asked, from time-to-time, under such dire circumstances...

"Is there nothing sacred?!" Which, when attached to this tender moment, when our play-grounds, are under attack, a Reverential Reference Regarding the very ground upon which we walked, talked, played on each and ever day...A reverential reference for the thing that Harris' sweet tweet said "outweighed concern over the loss of discipline and suspended all things academic"...(or at least WE kids think that's what he meant) -- a degree of reverential resonance in-deed! Now, that was one dude that was actually looking out for our best interests -- it's like he knew what we would be up against, that I'd find my back, against that wall...And how else would YOU describe, other than sacred ground, an area where, throughout OUR collective history, battles have been fought (King of the Hill!"), reputations made and left behind ("You'll only be known as the king at Recess!") and blood has been spilled (I still have a scar on my finger and crinkled up, band-aid wrapper as a souvenir, that I kept as proof --omni-prescient was I, at least on the playground😉). A time andplace that even became a Romantic period, in our lives ("No kiss and tell; what happens at Recess...")Yup, it WAS sacred ground until...

Lessons steeped in Pee: For a Partial answer as to how WE lost ground or other-wise gave it up, as in Relinquished...just kind of stepped aside ("look out, for yellow snow!") in the name of "Progress!"😞😢 it requires even more reading, and a step or two back in the alphabet, to a place and time where Pee was the order of the day...ground I intend on covering thus-ly, next Post. Try to hold it until then..."just a little longer kids..."