As outlined in Kelly Lessens’ and Carey Carpenter’s Jan. 13 commentary, Anchorage students need adequate time to eat and play. The new shortened time of only 45 minutes for both exercise and play at recess and to eat lunch is woefully inadequate, as their commentary explains. Elementary school children are little examples of us. They are people too. Like us, they do better if they have a reasonable opportunity to eat, socialize, and recreate.
As citizens, we should all want to inculcate a sense of wonder and desire in people of all ages to learn about new things. But this new policy does just the opposite, in our most vulnerable group of citizens — elementary-age students. Whatever rules school administration staff are dealing with, I doubt that such rules require that elementary schoolchildren should not have enough time to eat and play. It is a matter of allocating time in a manner that allows students time to eat, play and grow.
This matter needs more public attention and attention from school officials to something that obviously needs to be changed. I hope they can work with the ASD60 group to make going to school fun and educational again for our youngest students.
— Dave Carter
Anchorage
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