How long have we known that exercise increase endorphin flow to the brain? Not to mention the benefits of reducing stress by letting kids get the wiggles out, get some playtime, and coming back to their work in a better frame of mind. I have three kids, and I can tell you, they are MUCH easier to handle when they have time outside versus being cooped up inside all day!

School lunches could be improved somewhat..but a kid can have and needs more fat than an adult (without going crazy)...I believe that 1 hr of phys ed should be mandatory in school K-12. That is 5 days of moderate/hi intensity exercise every week 10 1/2 months a year. Yes we should pay for it. Yes it should be mandatory (with exceptions for disabilities). We will see rates of childhood obesity drop like a rock. When I was a kid we had health class in middle school and they went over proper nutrition. I suspect that is at least half of the reason Europeans are beating us academically. That way all of the kids who can't necessarily play outside due to safety issues get sufficient activity to support their health.

All I have to say is, DUH! I've been complaining about the appalling lack of recess and p.e. since my daughter started K. She's now in 5th. They are children not robots. They need to play and burn off energy. But no, instead the U.S. education system has decided it's better to cram more into their brains. Guess how much they absorb when they aren't paying attention? How many less children would have discipline problems and learning problems with more activity? How many less would be overweight? P.E. daily and recess at least twice a day - just like when I was growing up.

This is a no brainer. My wife has been in education for 26 years and she has seen the negative results of ending recess. Don't adults take breaks while at work? Students need a break too.

I had an hour of recess and an hour of P.E. daily, as well as one hour of lunch, an hour of math, an hour of science, an hour of religion (private school), and an hour of language arts. We also had an hour of arts and crafts to stimulate our creativity, but I didn't go to school in this country. I got out of class later than most kids do in the U.S., but I feel that I got a lot more out of my school than kids do here and it was well worth it. I would be all for having my child get out of school later if in exchange, it meant having her get an education, all while being healthy and happy at the same time.

They "supervise" recess with minimal staff during the day.

There is no reason you couldn't have the same option before school and after.

But the teacher's union would want their members paid $40/hr to babysit vs. $10/hour for a highschooler who probably needs the money.

Start by getting rid of NCLB and the politicians who designed it. Then yes - more exercise and better education in the basics. There will never be a 100% rate of any child learning any subject. Not every child will learn to read at grade level by 2014or 5014 - only a fool would shoot for that goal. The best educators and parents (and those fools in government) can expect - is to help each child achieve his best potential. For some that will mean never being able to read beyond the fifth grade or - well - you get the point.

I have been saying this since schools took it away. Adults can't sit in their cubicles all day and work. How can you expect a child too?

Like my Gram use to say" you kids get outside and blow the stink off ya".

It's all been about drugs and diagnosis of this thing or the other. Never looking at the environment these kids are in. Locked down. In their supposedly "Drug Free Schools".

This fear of everything is killing us as a Nation.

YES YES Bring back recess,gym everyday,kickball,dodgeball,tetherball and all the other school yard games that have been banned.

And red pens too!!! Not every kid is a genius and lets stop lying to them and let kids be kids for at least 45 min a day.