How to retrieve the "lost" ten minutes between classes

At the beginning of September this year, less than a week after school started, Yu Xia discovered that her fourth-grade son was depressed all day long. First, she excused herself for dizziness and stomachache and asked for leave. Then she simply said that school was too depressing and she didn’t want to go. When she asked, her son confessed that he was not allowed to leave the classroom for ten minutes during recess, except to use the toilet and get water. When a classmate asked to go out to play, the teacher said, "You have to stay in the classroom." "Have you finished your homework?" He felt very nervous and tired.

Only then did Yu Xia notice that the school was only a few dozen meters away from home, so why was it always quiet during recess?

Not just Yu Xia, many parents of primary school students pointed out on social platforms that their children cannot go to the playground, go up or downstairs, leave the classroom, or even leave the aisle where they are for ten minutes between classes.

The education department has repeatedly stipulated "ten minutes between classes". In addition to the 2021 "Regulations on the Protection of Minors", the Ministry of Education's "Notice on Further Strengthening the Physical Health Management of Primary and Secondary School Students" in April 2021 and the "14th Guidelines for the Development of School Sports in Shanghai" issued by the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission in January 2022 It is pointed out in the "Five" Plan that students should be arranged to go out of the classroom for appropriate activities and relaxation during each class break.

During this time, many schools have tried to make adjustments, but some still have restrictions on freedom between classes.

Tracing back to the root cause, the school's biggest concern is student safety. Many previous cases have shown that schools often bear "unlimited liability" in safety accidents. Since there are still gaps in campus safety legislation, more schools are exploring the transition from "post-event compensation" to "prior prevention" on the basis of introducing insurance, and regaining the lost "ten minutes between classes."

At Weihe Primary School in Gaolou Township, Weishan County, children play games during recess. Source

Zhang Yu, a first-grade parent in a certain place, made a similar discovery to Yu Xia. On September 15, she launched a poll on the Internet about the situation of primary school students during recess. As of October 8, about 72% of the 1,560 people who participated said that their children’s ten-minute activities between classes were restricted.

Zhang Yu and other parents mentioned that the school where their children live does not have explicitly prohibited rules and regulations, and teachers will provide verbal education: if children want to leave the classroom during recess, they can basically only go to the toilet and get water, and they are not allowed to talk loudly or run or jump on the way. Some "relaxed" schools will allow children to walk in the corridors, but not go up or down stairs or to the playground. In a more "serious" situation, the child can only stay in the aisle of his own group and cannot "cross the boundary."

Parent Liu Lu said that as far as she knew, some elementary schools had "recess restrictions" more than ten years ago. The lower grades have more restrictions, and corresponding reward and punishment mechanisms have been formed.

"If there are students running and jumping wildly in the corridor, the teacher will name them directly in the parent group." Liu Lu smiled bitterly. Each student in the class will have a little red star and points. If they are found, one star or one point will be deducted. . The sum of the stars and points in the class will affect the class collective honors such as the flowing red flag. In contrast, teachers will praise students who stay in the classroom during breaks and do their homework seriously.

Two primary school teachers pointed out that students also supervise each other, which is called "cross-class inspection." Every day, the student monitor will record who is making noise and fighting in the corridor during class today and write down their names in the notebook. Teachers will remind students of recess discipline during class meetings and flag-raising ceremonies, so “children also know what is good and what is bad.”

Liu Lu talked with the parents around her. Her children, especially girls, did not dare to speak loudly in the corridor for fear of being caught by the teacher. Now they "can only chat in the toilet", "socialize in the toilet" and "in the toilet" during class breaks. Share snacks." Some parents complained that their son and his classmates often ran to the toilet to play and explored "safer blind spots in the corridor." The elementary school stipulated that he must return to his seat when the preparation bell was ringing. One day when he came back late, he was made to stand and scolded by the teacher. His self-confidence was very frustrated. "The teacher said that this is not good for me and that is not good for me."

Zhang Yu observed that some parents saw the topic of "recess confinement" on the Internet and asked their children, only to find out that they were not allowed to go out during recess. Many children are used to not leaving the classroom as soon as they enter school, and they never think of telling their parents.

"Children have been arranged in this way since the first grade, and they will think that school is just like this. They don't know that there is another way of life, which is that they can go out to skip rope, run, and play freely for ten minutes between classes." Liu Lu asked back: "Isn't it possible for us when we were young? ?"

What makes parents even more anxious is the potential physical and mental harm caused by restrictions.

Zhang Yu consulted a lot of information for this purpose. The "2023 National Comprehensive Key Work Plan for Preventing and Controlling Myopia in Children and Adolescents" points out that it is necessary to ensure that primary and secondary school students have more than one hour of physical activity time every day in school. Many studies have shown that unstructured sports, that is, free, unorganized sports, are more important to primary and secondary school students than structured, organized sports. Adequate outdoor exercise and natural light are key factors in preventing myopia.

"My son has few friends and can't find anyone to play with." Yu Xia is worried that being kept in captivity during recess will make her son even more lonely and aggravate his dislike of studying. She couldn't help but send a WeChat message to the class teacher: "Our child doesn't want to go to school. Can we let him go out to play and relax during the break?" The other party only replied that he would communicate with the child. But the restrictions haven't changed.

Other parents called the 12345 hotline and sent emails to the principal to inquire. By the end of September, one parent received a reply: "Thank you for your suggestion. We are actively studying it."

Liu Lu admitted that the parents around her were very conflicted. "It's useless for us to complain. It's impossible for the entire school to allow one of my children to go out. This is unrealistic." She said that most parents have the mentality of "one thing is worse than one thing less": the child is still in school, "no Maybe to offend the school."

Primary school students in Wuzhou City engage in an "elephant tug of war" between classes.

On the morning of September 22, during class breaks at a primary school in Shanghai, a teacher stood in the corridor on each floor. They wore red "duty" armbands and stared closely at the classroom door. As soon as a child jumped on tiptoes, they picked up the little bee and shouted: "Be careful, don't run away!"

Xu Jinhua, the principal of the primary school, smiled bitterly. There were at least five classes in one corridor of the school, with a total of more than 200 students. The corridor is not spacious. "If you go back and forth in it during class, it is easy to cause collisions." However, it is unrealistic to allow students to go outside for activities: the playground is behind the teaching building, and half of the class time will be spent going up and downstairs. time, it is difficult for students to concentrate on preparing for the next class after returning to the classroom. Therefore, in Xu Jinhua’s primary school, students will not be restricted from leaving the classroom during recess, but students will be asked not to run or jump in the corridors, and in principle not to go up or down stairs.

Xu Jinhua said that these teachers who monitor in the corridor are called guardians, and they adopt a shift system. Each guardian starts at 7:30 a.m. every day and assumes the responsibility of safety supervision in the area under their jurisdiction. There is a general nursing supervisor to inspect the attendance at each class break, and there are corresponding grading grades from A to D. "The subsidy for nursing tutors is only a small amount, which is included in the teacher's performance, but if you fail to show up for work, you will be deducted 20 yuan each time you are caught."

Liu Yu, a primary school teacher in Nanjing, said that the nursing guidance system is common in primary schools across the country, with some schools calling it "one post, two responsibilities." She takes her turn once a week, and if she forgets, criticism is circulated among the school staff. "If you don't protect me today, you will be relaxed all day; if you do it, you will panic to death if there is any disturbance in the jurisdiction."

In a primary school in Fangshan District, Beijing, the head teacher Ding Jiajia needs to stay in the classroom to look after the students during each class period. If she cannot arrive, the teacher who taught the previous class must stay in the classroom and cannot leave. During physical education class, Ding Jiajia had to bring the class queue in front of the physical education teacher before returning to the office. "Seamless connection, there can't be any blind spots, for fear of making a mistake." Ding Jiajia felt aggrieved. Many parents accused the teacher of restricting students during class for convenience. "In fact, we are not worry-free at all."

Chu Zhaohui, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Educational Sciences, pointed out that the uneven distribution of school space, teachers and students and other resources is an important reason for the emergence of recess restrictions.

"A moderately sized school can have no more than 5 parallel classes, and no more than 8 at most. Beyond this number, it will be difficult for the school to achieve precise and effective safety management, and the risk will be greatly increased." Chu Zhaohui said.

Data from the Ministry of Education show that the number of primary school students enrolled in our country will exceed 20 million in 2023, reaching the peak in recent years. Liu Yu, a primary school teacher in Nanjing, observed that the number of first-grade classes has increased to 10 this year, with a total of more than 2,400 students in six grades, and there are more than 100 teachers in the school.

"Each teacher's supervision time is limited. Teachers generally have to visit four to five classes a day, and it is impossible to supervise children's problems in all aspects." Xu Jinhua said.

In Xu Jinhua's elementary school, the guardrails in the corridor are as high as an adult woman's chest; the hooks of the umbrella stands at the classroom door are arc-shaped and draw inward. Since this year, all windows above the first floor have been equipped with limiters, which can only open more than 10 centimeters wide; windows on the top floor have iron bars on the front...

She lamented that these safety protections are now "standard equipment" in primary schools across the country. "Every time there is a meeting in the city, the leaders will say that safety is 1, and other work is suffixed with 0. If there is no safety, all the school's efforts are meaningless."

Primary school students in Hebei Province practice football exercises during class breaks.

Professor Lao Kaisheng from the School of Education of Capital Normal University once mentioned that one way to solve the problem of insufficient responsibility capacity of primary and secondary schools is to let society share the compensation liability of public primary and secondary schools and establish an insurance mechanism for student injury accidents.

In Shanghai, after the implementation of the "Regulations on the Handling of Student Injury Accidents in Primary and Secondary Schools in Shanghai" in 2001, comprehensive school liability insurance has begun to be promoted.

Lin Jie, a staff member of a domestic insurance company, said that unlike the student insurance that parents voluntarily purchase, the insurance subject of the comprehensive school liability insurance is the school, which mainly covers accidental injuries that occur while students are in school or during activities organized by the school.

Lin Jie said that after reporting the case, it is necessary to review legal provisions and determine that the school is responsible for the student's injury. Only then can insurance claims be made and risks such as insufficient school funds passed on. Comprehensive school liability insurance is purchased uniformly in some cities by the district education bureaus in the form of open bidding, covering all primary and secondary schools in the district.

She has seen that after 2010, as more and more accidents were reported, the original single liability insurance has spun out various special insurances such as sports activities and campus accidents.

Currently, Lin Jie comes into contact with nearly a thousand accident reports every month, many of which occur during recess. She has seen students fighting in the corridor, turning their heads and accidentally colliding with their peers, resulting in a fracture of the proximal end of the right ulna; every year, children stab themselves with pencils while running between classes, and there are pencil leads in the eyeballs that cannot be removed. Come out and enter the brain leaving sequelae.

She emphasized that if such an accident occurs, if it is a first-year student under the age of 8 and not a person with civil capacity, the school should have supervision and education obligations. If it is a child over the age of 8, the parents have corresponding responsibilities and obligations, and the school If there is no fault, only some medical expenses will be compensated.

"The insurance company is not only a sharer of the school's responsibilities, but also a mediator of conflicts between home and school. In the end, the school's liability insurance is no longer a commercial insurance and assumes certain social functions." She said that nearly a thousand cases reported ended up in court. It's a single digit number. Every time a crime is reported, the insurance company will almost always pay compensation ranging from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of yuan.

Lin Jie observed that the insurance mechanism has alleviated the safety concerns of home and school to a certain extent.

Over the past two decades, many schools have tried to relax restrictions on small breaks. Some primary schools in Hangzhou have created themed and interesting "sports spaces" based on the actual conditions of the school grounds. A primary school in Sichuan has transformed the corridor into a "paradise" for planting fruits, vegetables and flowers; some primary schools in Hebei and Tianjin have provided Themed activities have been introduced and traditional game experiences have been set up on the playground.

In 2021, the "School Protection Regulations for Minors" clearly states: "Schools shall not set up management measures that infringe on students' personal freedom, and shall not restrict students' freedom of speech and conduct such as legitimate communication, games, and activities outside the classroom during recess and other non-teaching time. Set unnecessary constraints."

Li Wen, an education lawyer and senior partner of Beijing Yingke Law Firm, discovered during research in recent years that some primary schools with limited space have begun to guide children to create some board games and educational games of their own. In Xu Jinhua’s school, some teachers designed classroom table tennis, playing cards with number games printed on them, finger games, etc.

Still, the problem of “recess restrictions” persists in some schools across the country.

In Chu Zhaohui’s view, the root of the problem is the blurring of the school’s responsibilities and powers.

Students watch the "elephant tug of war" between classes. Source

"The school is no longer a subject with limited liability, but has become a bearer of unlimited liability." Chu Zhaohui said.

Liu Yu remembered that last year at her tutoring station, a student hit his head on the railing next to the pool while chasing and fighting, and needed more than a dozen stitches on his forehead.

Liu Yu's first reaction was, will the nursing teacher take responsibility? She first asked the surrounding students about the witnessing situation, and then quickly contacted the class teacher and the Academic Affairs Office, and the school called for surveillance. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw clearly in the surveillance video that the child accidentally slipped while running too fast.

Liu Yu said that safety issues are very common in schools. Most parents are reasonable and will understand the causes and consequences, but there are inevitably parents who consider the problem entirely from the perspective of their children. Xu Jinhua encountered a minor conflict between two students during class. Their parents directly called 110. After school, they stood outside the school gate, pointing at the other's child and scolding them: "Did you bully my child yesterday?"

Both Liu Yu and Ding Jiajia are worried that if recess is completely relaxed and more safety disputes arise, teachers will spend their energy on identifying accident responsibilities and dealing with home-school relations.

In 2021, the Dandelion Education and Rule of Law Research Center, where Li Wen is the director, conducted a survey. Among the 427 liability dispute cases in primary and secondary schools from 2020 to 2021, accidents involving injuries caused by students playing and playing accounted for more than 50% .

At the same time, among the 427 cases, the proportion of schools being sued that were judged to bear infringement liability by the court for failing to perform their educational management duties reached 89.23%.

Li Wen said that the school's responsibilities after an injury accident are actually clearly stipulated. According to the "Measures for Handling Student Injury Accidents", whether a school bears legal responsibility mainly depends on whether the school has fulfilled its educational management responsibilities: it must provide safety education to students before an accident occurs, detect and stop it in time when an accident occurs, and Fulfill the obligation to notify and provide assistance.

However, in specific judicial practice, “very few schools are exempted from liability, and the school will more or less be held responsible.” Li Wen said that the school always believes that it has fulfilled its educational management responsibilities, but lacks awareness of evidence preservation, such as lack of security Education, records to stop risky sexual behavior, and more.

Both he and Chu Zhaohui pointed out that after a safety incident, schools tend to have a "stability-maintaining" mentality, fearing that parents causing trouble will affect the school's reputation and personal positions, thereby taking financial compensation liability. If things go on like this, it will encourage the school to cause trouble, causing "parents to be unreasonable when they make trouble in school."

Chu Zhaohui pointed out that part of the responsibility will easily fall on front-line teachers. "Even if some teachers involved are not responsible, they will be punished," he said. Front-line teachers have great responsibilities but do not have enough power, so "everyone is in danger."

After Beijing primary school parent Hao Wen posted about "recess restrictions" online, she received a large number of private messages and comments from primary school teachers. Many teachers pointed out to her: After a student drowned after returning home during the Dragon Boat Festival, he went to the school to claim compensation, and the school eventually compensated 400,000 yuan; the student's deciduous teeth fell out due to a fall, and the parents asked the class teacher to compensate 100,000 yuan... "In case of a safety incident, "When parents come in to seek justice, even if the request is unreasonable, the head teacher will have to deal with it." A primary school teacher recalled that the head teacher and the teacher on duty "failed" after years of fighting for the qualification to be evaluated.

"Many teachers are very excited and helpless." Hao Wen saw that these cases abound.

Primary school students in Hebei Province undergo physical training at the physical fitness training hall.

"It's difficult for parents and it's difficult for schools too." Liu Lu smiled bitterly, "Is there really an outlet for problems during recess?"

In Lin Jie’s eyes, “compensation after the event should change to prevention in advance.”

In 2006, when Lin Jie was conducting research in primary and secondary schools, she found that campus liability insurance alone was far from enough. The roof has been leaking, cable boards are everywhere, and the railings don’t know how high they should be set... But she has seen that in more than ten years, more schools are regulating the hardware facilities to ensure student safety.

At the press conference in 2021, the Ministry of Education stated that it is studying how to establish and improve the risk prevention and control mechanism for accidental injuries in student sports activities to reduce or resolve the worries of principals and parents about injuries suffered by students participating in physical exercise and sports activities. This may be The basis for solving problems between classes.

On October 18, 2023, the Department of Basic Education of the Ministry of Education responded to reporters that it is currently urging all localities to further improve emergency response plans for security emergencies, establish a multi-department linkage rapid response mechanism, and ensure that the one-click alarm and video surveillance systems on campus are fully configured. Meet the standards and use them effectively.

The Basic Education Department of the Ministry of Education stated that in addition to the "Regulations on the Protection of Minors in Schools", the 2021 "Notice of the General Office of the Ministry of Education on Further Strengthening the Physical Health Management of Primary and Secondary School Students" also requires that "students should be arranged to leave the classroom appropriately during each class break" Activities and relaxation.” The Ministry of Education carefully guides and urges local schools to implement the above requirements. In the next step, the Ministry of Education will further guide schools in various places to strengthen recess management and return after-school time to children on the basis of refined management.

In Li Wen's eyes, what is more important is to incorporate safety education into the daily education dimension. "80% of student safety accidents can be avoided through education and prevention. Many principals' work reports will emphasize how tight and tight the safety work is, but in fact many measures have not been implemented, and some schools still regard safety work as a burden. . Safety education at home is also easily overlooked.”

He suggested that safety education should be included as part of the comprehensive quality evaluation of students. Improving students' safety awareness can reduce the occurrence of safety accidents from the source and "reduce" the burden of school safety work.

Chu Zhaohui believes that campus safety legislation is particularly critical and has not yet been put on the agenda.

In August 2022, the Ministry of Education responded in the "Reply to Recommendation No. 5935 of the Fifth Session of the Thirteenth National People's Congress" that "student safety legislation has a wide range of interests and involves complex issues. Due to tight legislative resources, school safety legislation has not Include relevant legislative provisions.”

Li Wen also pointed out that there are currently two major legal documents regarding campus safety: "Safety Management Measures for Primary and Secondary Schools and Kindergartens" and "Handling of School Injury Accidents". However, they have been formulated for a long time, and the legal binding force is relatively weak. Some regulations are relatively general and need to be updated urgently.

"Schools need to be controlled at a relatively appropriate scale to reduce external security risks. In terms of internal management, the principal needs to appropriately relax restrictions on class breaks after assessing risks." Chu Zhaohui said.

In the afternoon, it rains slightly in Shanghai. Xu Jinhua saw a child on the top floor stretching out his hand from the iron railing to touch the falling raindrops. "Who is that? So stupid."

Within a few seconds, she was worried that the rainy day was slippery, the child would inevitably fall if he walked carelessly, and whether he would be injured if he was hit while holding an umbrella...

Xu Jinhua sighed. The time he spent running around after class, playing shuttlecock, jumping rubber bands, and playing until he was tired before coming back has become a romantic memory.

"Now I just want peace and stability, day after day." She said with a smile, having stayed at the school for 18 years.