Court in Recess

Recess is now only 20-minutes long during the course of an elementary school day. Gym is down to one 45-minute period a week. Lunch is a rush and it is not unusual for my second grader to come home with only half a lunch eaten. “I didn’t have time to eat, Mommmmmm!” (Like, come on. Get with the program!) She is a dawdler when it comes to eating but still… no time to inhale a sandwich?

Of course, I seem to hear more about what happened on the playground and bus rides than I do about actual schoolwork. I was somewhat surprised at the recent trend of my 4th grader’s recess shenanigans.

“We held court today at recess, mom.” Rosie said, chomping on a carrot stick.

“What do you mean?” (I was thinking kings, ice queens, and gnomes or some such Narnian fantasy play.

“Amy was on trial for supposedly stealing Jenn’s Tamagatchi.” Not the Tamagatchis again!

She continued with the enthusiasm of a reporter. “I was on the Jury with Caroline and Maddie. Zoe was the judge and Ellie was the lawyer defending Amy, while Megan was the prosecutor."

“Really?” I said astonished. This was making for interesting dinner conversation.

“What happened to tag?” I wondered aloud.

“We’re not allowed to use the playground equipment as bases anymore,” she reported.

“What about Off the Wall?” Now I was concerned. They loved that wall game and had many near misses for the school bus while searching for a tennis ball to bring to school.

“The lunch aide took away the tennis balls.” She said nonchalantly.

“Oh. So who came up with the trial idea?” I was intrigued now. If kids are stopped from exerting physical energy they might resort to intellectual play? Don’t tell the grown-ups. These kids would probably do a better job. Of course, what the boys were doing on the playground was not discussed. I didn’t think about that until later.

“It was Amy’s idea.” Oh, so she got to be the defendant. I see.

Rosie then went on to tell an elaborate tale of who said what, the nature of the clues, and how the lawyers made their cases. In the end, Amy was judged innocent for lack of evidence.

I was very impressed. “So who is watching Court TV these days?”

“Huh?”

“I mean, where are you getting all these interesting ideas to play courtroom?” (I tend to blame exposure to media for a lot of childhood behaviors.)

“Oh, we just made it up.” Like, come on. Get with the program, Mom!

Then I remembered that last year, at the end of 3rd grade, they went on a field trip to the city courthouse. The children got to sit in the various seats of a courtroom and have a mock trial. I’m not sure if I was impressed with their resources or shocked that the only 20 minutes of the day has been reduced to kids sitting around because running or playing with tennis balls have become a hazard.

In any event, this was once case that riveted the dinner conversation. It beat those usual monosyllables to “How was school today, kids?” Bad. Boring. Fine. Eh.

Comments

[Jane]

This is why we don't have to worry about future generations! The girls aren't playing Mommy or School or Nurse; they're playing Court. Wow!

[Jane]

This is why we don't have to worry about future generations! The girls aren't playing Mommy or School or Nurse; they're playing Court. Wow!