School Bans "Tag"

[Lisa]

I know what you mean..We climbed tall trees and hug upside down hammering nails into it to built tree houses...

We had cliffs that we would jump off into the river behind us...no parental supervision

 

[searcher]

Just another way to help society bread a bunch of obese, docile, video game playing adult. If you are fat, out of shape, and not driven you can more easily control them.

 

[Kacey]

How 'bout this, which I found while I was looking for something else:

Broward County, Florida, playground rules

From the article the sign was linked to:

One of the rules posted outlaws running on the playground. One parent expressed amazement any playground would have a rule outlawing running, "I realize we want to keep kids from cracking their heads open, but there has to be a place where they can get out and run." Not on the playground, according to Jerry Graziose, the county safety officer who ordered the signs — the area is "too tight around the equipment" and the idea was "to try to control it (running)." What Broward County is trying to avoid isn't the running as much as the violent collision that ensues when running ends abruptly against playground equipment. Since 1999, the schools have paid out over (US)$500K to settle close to 200 claims for playground accidents. That represented five percent of the total spent on all kinds of injury claims over that period of time. That led to the focus on activities on the playgrounds which, in turn led to the rules.

The article goes on to talk about the disappearance of playground equipment for safety reasons.

 

[Makalakumu]

I can't help it..."You conspiracy theorist..."

Anyway, I agree. "Do what your told. Ye slave..."

 

[Lisa]

How 'bout this, which I found while I was looking for something else:

Broward County, Florida, playground rules

From the article the sign was linked to:



The article goes on to talk about the disappearance of playground equipment for safety reasons.

Yup, that picture says it all....empty playground, I wonder why :rollseyes:

 

[Drac]

We had cliffs that we would jump off into the river behind us...no parental supervision

We dove or jumped from the roof of our friends houseboat...

 

[Andrew Green]

I'm surprized that no one has leaked this to the mainstream media..I'm sure the Governor of California would have thoughts on the subject..Talk about bad publicity...

I thought CNN was the mainstream media

 

[Stan]

It is a FACT OF LIFE that everyone will at some point be PHYSICALLY AND EMOTIONALLY HURT. It is also a fact of life that at some point, EVERYONE will be physically damaged so badly they will DIE.

I honestly believe that the moral weakness that allows this kind of crap to go on is deeper than a litigous society. It is a fundamental denial of what it means to be human, to be powerful yet fragile, to have a limited amount of time on the Earth and a choice whether to make the most of it or cower in fear. I am an athiest myself, but EVERYONE needs an outlook, whether philosophical, spiritual or religious (coming from either reason or revelation) that allows them to deal with their own fragility and mortality and that of their loved ones without hiding from life or living in paralyzing denial.

In short, it is a SICK ghost of a society that bans childrens' games for their own protection.

 

[Andrew Green]

If you want people to become strong, they got to play rough once and a while. No way around it. If you want them to be tough they need to get hurt once and a while.

And I think the two go together. The litigous part and the weak part. If I thought someone was going to sue me because I let kids play tag, well I'd probably say no more tag to avoid the legal battle. But unfortunately there are people that have this "dream" of a family member getting hurt and them winning millions in court by sueing, and these people need a good butt kicking.

 

[MJS]

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.

Recess is "a time when accidents can happen," said Willett Elementary School Principal Gaylene Heppe, who approved the ban.

While there is no districtwide ban on contact sports during recess, local rules have been cropping up. Several school administrators around Attleboro, a city of about 45,000 residents, took aim at dodgeball a few years ago, saying it was exclusionary and dangerous

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/10/18/no.tag.ap/index.html

So, let me see if I understand this. They're banning activities like this that are unsupervised, because of the fear of injury and lawsuit? Ok..so what about when those activities are supervised? Whats to stop the injuries? In todays world, there are alot of sue happy folks, so I'm sure, supervised or not, if there is an injury, someone will find a way to sue.

Mike

 

[exile]

it is a SICK ghost of a society that bans childrens' games for their own protection.

If you want people to become strong, they got to play rough once and a while. No way around it. If you want them to be tough they need to get hurt once and a while.

You guys are right on target here. The thing is, we all know this is true---we all know that if you raise a child in a sterile bubble, the first time they get a cold it'll probably kill them; their immune systems won't develop unless they're tested and challenged by some fairly nasty bugs. That's the model of protecting children we should be looking at, rather than one which in effect imprisons them `for their own good'.

As Stan pointed out, there is major denial going on when someone decides that it's better for a child's muscles to atrophy from being unused than to have them run the risk of minor injuries by physically expressing that wonderful boundless energy we envy them for. But that kind of denial seems to be part of the tenor of our times---blame the restaurant if you overeat, or spill coffee on yourself that you weren't warned was really hot, etc. etc.---as though (i) it were possible to configure the world so that nothing bad could possibly, ever, under any circumstances, happen to you, and (ii) if something bad does happen, it just has to be someone else's fault. Not sure how these twin illusions came to be so widespread...

 

[Cruentus]

We need a Major Payne to tell principle Heppe, "Why don't you pop yo titty out of their mouths, and quite babying them!!"

 

[Carol]

*shrug*

We already aren't allowed to keep score during kids soccer games because losing might make kids feel bad.

 

[MA-Caver]

We need a Major Payne to tell principle Heppe, "Why don't you pop yo titty out of their mouths, and quit babying them!!"

.

 

[Drac]

I thought CNN was the mainstream media

Duhhhh!!! You are correct I forgot they said CNN...My bad..

 

[HKphooey]

Ah yes, children are so very fragile. A rapid movement of air is likely to damage them irreparably. If only we could keep them in airtight containers...

Boy in the bubble!

 

[Stan]

*shrug*

We already aren't allowed to keep score during kids soccer games because losing might make kids feel bad.

If you don't keep score, soccer is just a bunch of idiots running around if a field kicking a piece of leather.

 

[Stan]

By the way, I'm glad to see common sense knows no political boundaries here. The Left and the Right often would both accuse each other of bringing about such as sad situation as banning tag. Now I know most people by default are to my right (except maybe you, UpNorth ), and we all seem to agree.

 

[CoryKS]

By the way, I'm glad to see common sense knows no political boundaries here. The Left and the Right often would both accuse each other of bringing about such as sad situation as banning tag. Now I know most people by default are to my right (except maybe you, UpNorth ), and we all seem to agree.

I don't think it's a left/right thing, just a situation where people don't think about the long-term effects of their actions. Let's say a kid gets hurt playing on the playground. The child's parents want to protect their child, of course, and sue the school. Maybe they also think they are protecting other children as well. What they believe they have done by suing is to compel the school to provide a safer play environment for the kids. What is actually happening is that the schools are deciding to scrap the play environment altogether. This is an unintended and unfortunate consequence.

Reminds me of one of those jokes that went around listing the Men's Rules for Women: You can tell me what to do or how to do it, but not both.

 

[MJS]

A link to the article in my local paper.

http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-ctnotag1019.artoct19,0,5577582.story?coll=hc-headlines-local

I found this part pretty interesting:

"Elimination games like Tag or Simon Says are essentially self-defeating," Williams continued, "because the students who are least skilled and fit are usually the first to be caught, banished, punished, and embarrassed, and then given almost no opportunity to improve."

IMO, this statement is pretty sad. Not being number 1, not always getting what we want is part of life! This is basically saying that games like tag or a similar activity are going to be hurtful to kids if they happen to be the first person out! So lets do away with something that is giving physical exercise like running, because someones feelings may be hurt.

Its one thing to want your child to do well in an activity, but then you have some people that make a child feel as if they're a nobody unless they're always number 1. Sorry, but it just doesn't happen like that in real life. Maybe in the fantasy land that some raise their kids in.

Mike