At some city public schools, there is no recess at all – deep budget cuts mean there are not enough adults to monitor students' playtime.
But at McMichael Elementary in Mantua, children troop out onto the schoolyard in orderly lines, pledge to be respectful and kind, then break out into orderly but joyous games of football, dodgeball and foursquare – blowing off steam with a genial man known as Coach Steve.