Year 7 & 8 children in break time?!!! Is PLAYING a thing of the past?

[Confused687]

Help! I could really do with as many replies as possible as I'm finding it really hard to get my head around and I have DC moving into to Year 7 soon and from the schools I have looked at 'play' seems to be considered babyish!!!!!

What do your year 7 children, and also year 8, do in break and lunch times at school? Are they outside getting fresh air? Do they hang around their form rooms chatting? Do they use phones for texting or social media? Do they fill their lunch breaks with clubs or go to the library to do homework or read?

Do any of them go out side and PLAY? Or is playing something that is left behind when the leave primary school? :(

[talkinpeace]

Banning phones in schools is utterly non feasible in many areas - DCs school has a huge catchment and 1500 kids - they NEED the phones for emergencies

but when I was at secondary we used to hang around and chat and bitch

little has changed

[Confused687]

Thanks for all your comments people! Valuable as always! I'm glad I'm not alone in having observed this move away from playing. :(

[Millymollymama]

No-one NEEDS a phone in school. They can be stored in lockers and collected at the end of the day. Lots of schools insist on this, large, small, rural or not. What on earth happened before mobile phones? An adult would contact the parent on behalf of the child.

My DDs senior school had an outside activity area for the Y7 girls but many did clubs and sport at lunchtimes. We did not play in Y7 when I was at school and that was nearly 50 years ago. We chatted, queued up for tuck, and did a bit of quick revision for tests. Lunchtime was mostly taken up with eating and chatting. We were thrown out of the buildings but we went on long walks in the grounds or sat around in groups. No clubs that I can remember although I organised 'record club' in the music room so we could listen to Motown, the Beatles etc. As it was a grammar school, lunch breaks were surprisingly dull. We (only the girls) also washed up the teachers' coffee cups on a rota which involved entering the smoke infused staff room! How times have changed - for the better.

As there is so much more sport at secondary school, children don't necessarily run around at break or lunchtime but a few may choose too.

[talkinpeace]

Millymolly
What on earth happened before mobile phones? An adult would contact the parent on behalf of the child.
But 30 years ago there were far fewer households with both parents out at work
and before parental choice kids went to their local school
and kids and parents spent a LOT of time hanging around

[notnowbernadette]

Ds yr 7 often goes to the library as he doesn't like football. He either reads or goes on the computers. There are also quite a few clubs at lunch which many of them take part in and phones are banned in school hours.

[GinandJag]

I am teaching in an all girls comp at the moment and the younger girls are definitely out playing at lunchtime.

The private school I previously taught in had girls up to year 10 playing outside. You had to drag them in for afternoon registration.

[Fairylea]

My dd is in year 8 and they all stand about chatting at lunch.

Mobile phones are banned at school and anyone caught with one is in big trouble. It's a very rural school with 1500 pupils and if they absolutely must have a mobile phone for a particular day (for home time issues) then they have to give it in to the office at the start of the day and collect it at the end. Seems to work really well. None of the kids seem to disobey the rule, they all live in fear of having their phones taken away!

[talkinnpeace]

Flad your DD is doing ok fairylea

[Fairylea]

Thank you talkinpeace :) me too, things seem to have sorted themselves out this year and she's in with a nice crowd. No more tears and upset thank goodness :)