The animals are ready to burst out of their cages and breathe the fresh air of middle school grounds. Students frantically begin to hush their peers in order to be the first let out. In the jungle, there are always two or three monkeys that decide to create chaos. Among the others, mumbling could be heard about the upcoming games about to take place. Many already started to decide what teams and students would be taking over the field. In Wilson Southern Middle School, those monkeys at recess decided to play a rule-breaking game of shark and minnows.
Along with this game, they played a back breaking lunch bag tag, and an awkward imaginary game. Recess does not only contain games, but it has a huge impact on the body and its health. Shark and minnows is known for the velocity in which the enemies (sharks) run to tag their victims (minnows). Similarly, at recess sixth graders play the animal like version of shark and minnows. During this game one amateur middle schooler starts to attack the “minnows” to draw them into his group of sharks. Meanwhile, the minnows are in a state of every man for themselves. They attempt to dodge the shark’s attempts of tagging them.
At the same time, the prey tries to make it to the other side of the field. Surrounding the perimeter are colorful cones that signal the outline of the field. Shortly after the game begun, their animal like spirit started to fluoresce and show. They began to run over and misplace the cones. The teachers guarding the recess grounds didn’t seem to mind the students ruining school property. Since nobody was really paying attention to who was getting tagged the minnows were using this opportunity to cheat. At some points during the game a small amount of minnows would get tagged and only a handful would accept their defeat.
Others would keep on playing the game as if nothing had happened. Their small brains might seem inferior compared to others developed minds such as those of eighth graders. As dangerous as sharks and minnows might be nowadays, the animals inside of them never seemed to stop being free like the wind. As some may know animals are not usually known for using lunch bags. Lunch bags are recognized to be used mainly for packing food. Students of Southern Middle School use them as a weapon for tagging and playing with other students. The students were not just touched by the lunch bag, they were being whipped on their backs with it.
One may be surprised to discover that the female eighth grade English Teacher watching the recess was very shocked about the six grade recess. “It is like Animal Planet out there! ” As many had witnessed, the bag was swinging in a rapid motion and the students playing ran even faster to avoid the physical contact with the enemy. The tagger was a small boy with many dangerous skills, that can hurt many. Just as a sword is the weapon for a warrior, the lunch bag was the sword for the tagger that slew every victim in its path. The boy used his lunch bag as if with that he could overtake all his friends.
Finally, at some points in time the boy with the lunch bag would calm down and the victims would have time to breath in air they have been longing for. The intense game had no end the tagger was so amused by the game. While the victims wished for it to stop for the lunch bag tag was a hazardous game. All that could be seen was a small boy curving his hands in a baseball player manner and throwing a pretend object into the air. Those who were observing this peculiar game at recess could not see anything. A male eighth grade boy watching the recess was telling others what he thought the sixth grade boy was playing.
The boy is playing Avatar! ”. Some thought it was hilarious to see students of such an age play a toddler game like that. The sixth grade student played with about two to three friends. One could tell that they were mouthing words like a swoosh, or boom to express their exaggerated motions. In their hands they held and threw objects that many students thought were pretend fireballs. According to what was observed, this game surrounded the idea of surviving and adventure. They would run around the same spot over and over again attacking each other.
Even though there was much laughter in the game, it was a very intense activity. Everyone would protect themselves throwing unreal fireballs at one another to avoid the violent “attacks” of their peers. Students playing felt like they were carrying the weight of the universe on their shoulders. They played for the fun of it and took every second to account to win the battle of lunch bag tag. Many adolescents are suffering of obesity in the past couple of years. It has become a huge problem for many kids from ages six through eleven and twelve through nineteen in the United States.
The percentage of kids twelve through nineteen has increased from 5% to almost 21%. For children six to eleven has increased from 7% to 18% over a course of thirty two years. The rapid growth of obesity in the country is very concerning for many people, including parents and doctors. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention state that in 2012 almost one third of children and adolescents are overweight or obese. This immense growth of children overweight can be prevented. It becomes even more clear that recess can make a huge change. It provides physical and emotional activity.
The children are given the time to play and most of all exercise. At recess, many connect with others and do even more activity or exercise when they have others to play with. Obesity can be prevented by the school activity of recess. Recess can help many dodge obesity and be healthy children and adolescents. The animals never had time to stop. There game was more important than gasping for air. They had no time to think of the rules or if they were playing the game right. What the sixth grade students really cared about was playing and having fun.
They even dared themselves to play a wild game of shark and minnows. There animal spirit broke out in a very dangerous game of lunch bag tag. Not only were they playing these events, but some even played imaginary activities with crazy adventures. Recess has dangerous games and all but research says that it can help lower the percentage of kids becoming obese. Along with that, recess can be safe if students played as civilized humans. On the other hand, at Wilson Southern, recess is where most students are hitting each other or disobeying school rules. But enjoying recess is all that matters, right?
