School bans tag, other chase games

Whats happening to our country?Now you cant play tag?This is starting to appear that Americas becoming a re-education camp.You cant no longer do this or that,but you can do what the goverment tells us,This is getting ridiculous.Kids cant no longer be kids.You also arent able to eat "trans fats"(which should be a choice,not a law),theres even a few places mentioning those selling trans fat foods could go to prison.

(CNN)-Officials at an elementary school south of Boston have banned kids from playing tag, touch football and any other unsupervised chase game during recess for fear they'll get hurt and hold the school liable.
www.cnn.com...

"I think that it's unfortunate that kids' lives are micromanaged and there are social skills they'll never develop on their own," said Debbie Laferriere, who has two children at Willett, about 40 miles south of Boston. "Playing tag is just part of being a kid."
www.cnn.com...

[edit on 18-10-2006 by Black_Fox]

wow, now that is whacked...

i guess that means dodgeball is out too, eh?

I'm sure next they'll ban recess as there's no telling what can fall out of the sky and hit a child on the head during school hours and on school ground...

I'm a playground volunteer at my daughter's school. K-8.

1 - There are not enough teachers to police the playground. Teachers cost $$.

2 - Sometimes there are not enough volunteer parents to police the playground.

3 - Even with enough volunteers - when you tell boys not to tackle in football, they still do it. No matter the age .. they still do it. Same with tag. You tell them just to touch, but they end up grabbing and throwing the other kids down.

4 - The first month of school this year we allowed tag football. In the first 4 weeks we ended up with one broken arm, one broken nose, and one concussion. (spelling?). That was in the first month. All boys getting injured.

5 - Football has now been banned at recess. They are still allowed tag. But even with the 'just tag' rules the boys are still sometimes getting over excited .. they grab and throw down.

Seriously. I understand the ban. If there aren't enough teachers on the playground due to money problems, and if there aren't enough parents volunteering to be playground (and lunch) supervisors, then the school does what it has to for the protection of the students and for their own protection from lawsuits.

Hey .. kids can still play tag and football on their own time or after school at sports. But during the 15 -20 minutes of recess they can live without it. No one's social skills are being infringed upon.

Its a safety thing. I fully understand.

Originally posted by m3rlz
i guess that means dodgeball is out too, eh?

I HATED dodge ball. They boys threw the balls way too hard and us girls were always getting hurt. The gym teacher didn't care and the boys thought it was 'flirty' to hit us girls. I absolutely hated dodge ball.

Originally posted by m3rlz
wow, now that is whacked...

i guess that means dodgeball is out too, eh?

Actually

(Boston.com)-N.Y. lawsuit kicks dodgeball into court ALBANY, N.Y.
The high-energy school yard game of dodgeball is getting kicked around a New York courtroom, where questions are being raised about whether it's just too dangerous for young children to play.
www.boston.com...

Originally posted by Black_Fox

(Boston.com)-N.Y. lawsuit kicks dodgeball into court ALBANY, N.Y.
dodgeball ... questions are being raised about whether it's just too dangerous for young children to play.

FINALLY! Geeeze .. Isn't this obvious?

what's to question? Well, perhaps the boys dont' understand like us girls do .. dodgeball is awful. (oh .. the emotional scars left upon me by childhood dodgeball!!

)

I guess I'm having a hard time figureing out why teachers would be on the playground at recess anyway. It's comforting to know at 48 years old I'll probably out live many of my younger co workers because the only exercise the get is with video games and going to the fridge.

mikell

we used to play dodgeball and kick-ball all the time... no one ever really got hurt, albeit there were a few bruises here and there... back when i was in grade school, getting a spanking with a big-ass wooden paddle was still allowed... i think that pretty much kept us in order, as everyone was afraid of the paddle... plus, chances were that you'd get another whoopin' when ya got home... i think the kids today are just mean to the others and try to hurt the others in those games because they know they can get away with it... disciplinning kids today is not what it used to be... some of these lil bastages need a good ass-whoopin' to knock some sense into 'em...

The ban actually raises a good point. The problem with many in the US is that parents will sue at a drop of a hat for the most simple things. I think the school is right for doing this, not only to protect the kids, but to avoid any lawsuits from parents who are looking to impose even more strict rules on the schools and children.

[edit on 18-10-2006 by DJMessiah]

Originally posted by FlyersFan

Originally posted by m3rlz
i guess that means dodgeball is out too, eh?

I HATED dodge ball. They boys threw the balls way too hard and us girls were always getting hurt. The gym teacher didn't care and the boys thought it was 'flirty' to hit us girls. I absolutely hated dodge ball.

I got a basketball in my head once in 6th grade during a war based version of dodgeball.... It knocked me out, as I watched the ground coming towards me. A few seconds later I was playing again. My mom's cousin was my 6th grade teacher.

The next year in jr high we were also playing dodgeball, but with throwing and kicking the ball. I got hit straight in the glasses. glasses broke, and my eye got scratched. I had a pop quiz a half hour later, and scored a perfect "10" (A+)... Without my glasses.

Later on in high school, some kids used to have free style street fight competitions, best friends against each other, sometimes they ended up with a busted lip. Also in highschool we used to play soccer against the teachers, in which we used to tackle them hard sometimes. And if you were a goalkeeper, you had to stop 50mph balls.

All of being a kid growing up in the 80's & 90's. If you didn't get hurt a few times, you didn't have a childhood. Kids are being brought up to be wimps these days.

P.S: Some of the girls used to love dodgeball as well, and some also used to throw really hard. If the boys hit them hard, they'd hit them back hard as well. We didn't have any parent supervision at recess.. Perhaps only the lower grades sometimes. And parent's didn't sue. They came to either argue, or punish the child if the child was wrong...

Take it from a guy who at 7 years old fell out a moving car and got dragged through the sand for a few seconds before his father noticed. Btw... I was okay. I got only a few scratches, and one scar that is visible to this day.

[edit on 18-10-2006 by TheBandit795]

Hmm, was my thread invisible? I posted it this morning.
politics.abovetopsecret.com...

mod edit: link fixed

[edit on 10/18/2006 by Gools]

Sometimes it happens, Kruel...

Originally posted by Kruel
Hmm, was my thread invisible? I posted it this morning.

politics.abovetopsecret.com...'

My apologies Kruel,i didnt see it.

Since we already have a thread, please post your comments there. I will cross-post this thread in the original.

Closed.
.

Originally posted by TheBandit795
All of being a kid growing up in the 80's & 90's. If you didn't get hurt a few times, you didn't have a childhood. Kids are being brought up to be wimps these days.

Spoken like the boys I knew who used to play dodge ball too hard.
Well Bandit .. you are all guy. Definately. All I can say is that from the point of view of me ... a girl ... and the other girls I was with in school .. we HATED dodge ball. It freak'n hurt and being girls .. we didn't like getting hurt while playing.

I will never accuse you of being a wimp.

the other thread only has one reply, why not close that one? and there is more exposure to this thread than the other, as not everyone tends to visit the politics part of the site...