Child prisons and shit

I'm volunteering at a school currently, and as I left for home (I wasn't really needed for that day due to an assembly). I walked out to the yard and saw a small asphalt square, no bigger than my living room being played in by children. A teacher inside the fenced off square then stopped two boys from pushing each other. And as I looked at the square I realized it looked like a prison. It was fenced off and kids were just standing there or playing with each other in a sort of mindless way. I looked to my other side and saw a larger square, but it still looked like a prison. Then i got thinking, schools aren't really schools, they're just really nice voluntary prisons we bring our children into. yes I know boundaries are important, and fencing them to a degree is a good idea, but sticking a small child into an empty asphalt square, and fenced off with someone watching them seems a little harsh to me. It doesn't look like recess but looks like penitentiary punishment to me. All I'm saying is small children should be watched yes, but give them something to do, don't just cage them up in that little area. On another note, I also looked at the older kids and I noticed one thing, it seems they reward you for getting older. The older kids have a larger play area and a play ground set. There's also trees and other things. and instead of getting a concrete fenced off area, they get a grassy prison with things to do inside them. Personally if I ran a school I'd make the outside more different with more trees (fenced off of course, to please the parents). All I'm saying is that children need to be given a measure of freedom during play and not a fenced off concrete prison.