Holy crap. Kids are definitely being turned into a bunch of wimps. I was in elementary school in the early '90s and never remember being kept inside due to cold temperatures (grades K-2 in Virginia, 3-5 in Massachusetts). At my school in Westwood, MA we also were outside in the mornings after arriving on the bus, until the actual start of school. The only times I recall being inside (in the cafeteria) is if it was raining, not if it was cold out. We just made sure to have warm clothing and snow boots when needed, and had fun playing until it was time to go in. We also had TWO recesses--one 15-minute morning one, and a half-hour one after lunch. I wonder if that school still does...probably not. On a related subject, who else has noticed that now the school buses stop at every kid's house to pick up/drop off rather than having just one bus stop for each neighborhood? Or is that just around here? It drives me crazy--holds up traffic bigtime, definitely not environmentally friendly b/c of all the idling and slow driving it creates (at a time when one would think that would be a consideration), and since when can kids not walk a block or two to the bus stop? Especially when we need to be helping them get MORE physical activity, most definitely not less!!