Let the Children Run

11/30/2016

He is so stingy that if he gave you the measles, it would be one measle at a time.
Irish Proverb

"For many American kids, art, music and recess are endangered parts of their day. What this means is more time trapped in desk chairs and less time moving around, fewer opportunities for open creativity and more rote memorization. It’s no wonder longtime teachers have noticed kids have a harder time sitting still than ever before," writes Bethany Mandel.

Several teachers in the Dallas school system found a possible solution to the fidgety children in their classrooms: they replaced traditional seating with "wobbly" or "bouncy chairs." Soon after, children found themselves gently bouncing on stability balls or rocking on plastic chairs that "move like spring animals on a playground," noted the Dallas Morning News.

"It's the comparison to the equipment on playgrounds that got me," noted Mandel. "In order to get students to pay attention and sit still for hours on end in a classroom, teachers had to replicate the experience of the playground. What might be a cheaper alternative to replacing chairs in a classroom, which costs between $600 and $2000 per class? More time on the actual playground.

"While wiggle chairs and other movable seating arrangements are one way to help students get their "wiggles" out, they are merely a Band-Aid on a much larger problem. Students don’t need more time fidgeting in classrooms; they need more time outside playing and exploring. Childhood wasn't meant to be lived indoors, watching through the windows at unused playground equipment outside. If kids can't sit still, we should stop expecting them to."

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