The Recess Revolt

The Recess Revolt

Elias walked into social studies class, complaining to his friend Ada about the new school recess rules. " It's so dumb, " he said. " Isn't recess supposed to be about free time and having fun?" " All right now, settle down, " Mr. Sterling called from the front of the room. " I know it's only the first day, but we already have a lot to do. " Elias sank into his chair, still upset. He had spent the whole summer looking forward to playing chess again with Ada during recess. When they got to the playground, though, they'd found a new set of recess rules in place. Instead of playing on their own, students now had to do activities run by the teachers. Elias and Ada had been sent over to the soccer field right away, with no chance to argue.

It's so unfair, Elias thought. " All right, class, " said Mr. Sterling. “ We're starting with the civil rights movement of the 1960s. What do you already know about it?" “ Rosa Parks, " someone said. Someone else called out, “ Peaceful protests. " " Right, " said Mr. Sterling. “ The civil rights protesters resisted unfair laws, but they did it in peaceful ways. One way they did was called a sit-in. " The class settled in to take notes. “ Sit-ins started in restaurants, which were often open only to white customers, " Mr. Sterling went on. " African Americans would go to a whites-only restaurant and order food. When they were refused, they'd simply sit and wait to be served. Sometimes people would yell at them, or throw food, or threaten them, but they just sat quietly. "

" Did it work?" asked Elias. " It worked very well, " Mr. Sterling said. " The restaurants couldn't make money with protesters sitting at their counters. Meanwhile, the whole country was watching the protesters' peaceful actions. Slowly, the whole system of separating races in public spaces began to fall apart. " They talked about peaceful protests for the rest of the class. Elias followed everything carefully, and when class ended he turned to Ada. " I've got an idea about how we might get our free time back, " he said. " Meet me on the soccer field at recess tomorrow. " The next day, Ada joined Elias on the soccer field, and he told her about his plan. “ We're going to sit down right in the middle of the field, " he said. Ada looked at him as though she thought he was crazy. “ It's a sit-in, " Elias explained, “ like we learned about in class yesterday. We're going to sit here quietly and refuse to play to protest the new recess rules. "

" Do you really think that will work?" Ada asked. " I think it's worth a try, " Elias said. “ It worked for the civil rights protesters, so why not us?" Ada looked unsure but sat down next to him. At first, nothing much happened. Then Ms. Fremont, the teacher in charge of the soccer game, jogged up to them. “ Ada and Elias, what are you doing here? I need you over on this team, please, " she said. They looked at each other nervously but didn't move.

" Don't you want to play today?" she asked. They shook their heads silently. Ms. Fremont looked at them for a moment. A couple of other kids came over, trying to see what was holding up the game. “ Well . . . you can take a break today, " Ms. Fremont said, “ but you can't do it here. I need you to move to the sidelines so you don't get hurt. And I'm going to need you back in the game tomorrow, okay?" Reluctantly, Elias and Ada rose and shuffled off the field. “ Walk really slowly, " Elias whispered to Ada. “ We want people to notice what we're doing. These protests only work if lots of people join in. " His plan worked. As kids moved in and out of the game, several of them asked Elias and Ada what they were doing. When Elias explained, people got excited; clearly, many other kids were unhappy with the new rules, too. By the end of recess, several more students had joined them on the sidelines, watching the game quietly. When the whistle blew, they all stood and returned to class.