<p>People always blame the schools and the teachers, but there is no institution in society that is more reflective of the community than the school. We can usually find the root of school problems in wider community attitudes.</p>
<p>One big problem is the virtual elimination of recess and opportunities for physical movement during the school day. Recess has been curtailed for two reasons. One is the attempt to Taylorize schools and make them more efficient by cramming “learning” into every moment (thus hopefully maximizing test scores linked to school rankings and real estate values). The other, and probably more important, reason is that kids playing outside in relatively autonomous ways get occasionally hurt emotionally and occasionally injured physically. The school does not want to have shrieking parents descending on them and suing. Our current legal and cultural climate poorly tolerates the natural anarchy of recess.</p>