School Bans 'Tag'

GillBates0 writes "CNN is carrying a story about a school in Boston which has 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. According to the article, some elementary schools in other states have similarly banned "unsupervised contact sports". A parent was quoted as saying that her son feels safer now and that she'd witnessed enough 'near collisions.'" See, it's not just dangerous virtual games that are harmful to children!

Comments

WTF?

[Turn-X Alphonse]

Do these people seriously expect stopping kids touching each other is going to stop them getting hurt?

Kids are very simple life forms, they don't have a firm grasp of logic and hence do stupid things which get them hurt. This is a basic fact of life and if you repress it you make adults who do the same because they never learnt any better.

How the hell can any school know so little about children but have them for so long..

Re:WTF?

[pete6677]

These kids will turn into very fragile adults.

Re:WTF?

[kfg]

Do these people seriously expect stopping kids touching each other is going to stop them getting hurt?

Do they still get transported to school in motor vehicles?

Kids are very simple life forms, they don't have a firm grasp of logic and hence do stupid things which get them hurt.

In other words, they take after their parents.

Re:WTF?

[rbf2000]

You can tell a kid not to touch a hot stove as much as you'd like, but they're not going to actually learn it themselves until they touch the hot stove and burn themselves. It's going to be painful, but it's a message they are going to remember.

If a child goes through life placidly believing what their parents tell them, as good as the advice may be, that child is going to grow up to be a worker bee, not challenging authority, just following orders. Kids need to learn to push boundaries, that is the only way they are going to get ahead.

Re:WTF?

[rwven]

All this is going to do is leave the kids with more energy after recess which in turn makes them more disruptive. Their discipline problems will probably increase...

Re:WTF?

[buswolley]

Getting hurt is a valuable experience to children. While I do not support a quota system be enforced, I do believe that if a child is never allowed to discover the pain associated with life, to be over-protected ninnies, then how can we trust them to make hard decisions in the future? Kids need to play. They need to skin their knees, break their finger, because it tells them in a strong way that actions have consequences.

Re:WTF?

[Woldry]

... and so will the Ritalin prescriptions.

Re:WTF?

[lymond01]

Newsflash: The schools aren't worried about the kids. Teachers have been around long enough to know that kids bounce when they fall and heal quickly if they get hurt. Schools are afraid of the parents and the great American lawsuit.

Re:WTF?

[hcob$]

If kids don't fall and get hurt, scraped up, bumped or bruised then they won't know what to do or how to deal with it as an adult. Damn liberal commies!

Minus the last sentance, this is actually a very wise statement. Children need to be protected from death and serious injury. They don't need to be protected from filing a lawsuit against someone who is watching them because the child falls down.

I have a hypothesis that much of the adrenialine-junkie, self destrcutive behaviour that has become a staple of American life is due in large part to overprotection of our children.

Re:WTF?

[JabberWokky]

I was at a steam powered festival this past weekend (Rough and Tumble near Lancaster, PA). There was a father or grandfather walking through with his children or grandchildren looking at all the neat steam powered devices. We were in a barn full of smaller engines, all whirring and puffing steam. Steam equipment generally needs to be oiled continually so there were gravity fed glass vials of oil all over the machine -- one of which was leaking slightly. The kid put out a finger to touch the trail of oil leaking down the side of the machine, and the adult said "You don't want to touch that, but if you feel you have to, go ahead and do it". The child paused and tapped the oil... and the very hot metal behind it. Minor burn and a major lesson.

Tiny lessons like this throughout childhood is what makes for responsible adults with common sense. Good to see that the schools have officially stated that they have no plans to teach responsibility, common sense, social skills or empathy, all lessions learned on the playground.

--
Evan

Re:WTF?

[thatguywhoiam]

If a child goes through life placidly believing what their parents tell them, as good as the advice may be, that child is going to grow up to be a worker bee, not challenging authority, just following orders.

Near as I can tell, this is a design goal of the current school system. See: Dickens.

Re:WTF?

[Glacial Wanderer]

I think this will also increase the likelihood of these kids becoming very fat adults.

A large portion of the physically fit people I know are physically fit because we like playing/competing in sports. I wonder how many of these kids who might otherwise get interested in a physical activity will shy away from them because their school tells them they are too dangerous? I wonder how many of these kids "saved from the dangers of physical activity" will end up dying from a heart attack? If there can be lawsuits against McDonalds for making kids fat, I think there can be lawsuits against a school for making kids fat. Maybe if there are enough of these lawsuits then kids will be able to have fun again.

Re:WTF?

[WillyPete]

Of course you're correct, but that not what this is about. The root problem is the adults, and the reflex to ligitigation that has swamped the U.S. legal system. If courts stopped handing over millions of school (tax) dollars to parents of every kid with a bee sting, they wouldn't have to cover their hindquarters this way.

Yet here we are, the intelligentsia of the present, blaming the school for something it shouldn't have to worry about in the first place.

The best solution I can imagine would be a "loser pays" system, whether only those truly liable would be punished through the legal process. At present, both sides are financially penalized, and a wealthy litigant (or one with political support) can run a public school into the ground. In these circumstances, the school is perfectly understandable in it's efforts to prevent behavior that creates complaints and lawsuits.

The never ending march ...

[SengirV]

... of the pussification of America.

Hmm.

[Anonymous Coward]

I would think the number of teachers in the U.S. molesting school children would be a bigger priority than protecting them from a game of tag.

Free country, my ass!

[bwalling]

We call this a free country, but lawsuits have scared everyone into ridiculous rules and restrictions. We shouldn't be allowed to talk about freedom when we are imprisoning ourselves even in the areas the government isn't. I'm tired of all the reasonable things I'm not allowed to do because some organization's insurance company doesn't like or some fool sued someone. Maybe I just didn't notice this stuff when I was younger, but it seems ridiculous anymore.

Oh gods....

[Kenja]

I was going to write up a witty retort to all of this, but I think its far simpler just to call these people fucking idiots and get back to work.

Fat Kids & ADD

[businessnerd]

And you wonder why the United States has an obesity problem that seems to be getting worse with the younger generations. They keep banning everything that gives them any excercise. The reason tag is so great is because it is so simple and meets an immediate need for hyperactive kids (read "all kids") to release all of that energy being balled up while they are sitting still in class and also starts them off young with a good perception of excercise. No wonder so many kids are "diagnosed" with ADD and put in special classes these days. In my day (born in '83) when a kid couldn't sit still in class, they would have him/her do some laps around the playground instead of pumping him full of drugs. After a couple laps the kid was more than happy to sit still and listen. Playing tag on the playground was the only thing keeping those kids attentive. Now they are told that all running and chasing activities are too dangerous, so therefore sports and excercise must be too dangerous, therefore, I should sit inside and simulate it on an xbox or ps[#] eating candy to occupy my time.

Seriously I think my head is going to explode

Elem. students should ALWAYS be supervised

[davidwr]

I've never been in a school that had unsupervised playground time. An adult was ALWAYS watching.

Now, if they are banning kid-organized tag games, that's just plain silly and harmful to their mental, emotional, physical, and social development.

hello overreaction

[TubeSteak]

And no, I'm not referring to the ONE school in Boston.

I'm talking about the millions of people who will view the acts of a few schools around the country as the downfall of American society.

The problem these schools are seeking to resolve is this: They have all the responsibility for what happens to your little angel/monster but none of the parental immunity that comes with it.

Little Susie gets hurt playing a neighborhood game of tag. Nobody sues her parents. If little Susie gets hurt playing a school yard game of tag. The parents can sue the school.

The parents might not win, but who wants to be sued for something that can be avoided?

P.S. The difference between PE & recess is that you usually have to sign a waiver f liability for athletics.

Can't normal people get on with their lives?

[cowscows]

It seems that we hear about two kinds of parents now-a-days. Ones who neglect their children so completely that the kids lose all sense of perspective and discipline and then go out and hurt innocent people. On the other hand there's a bunch of ridiculously over-protective parents who try to coddle their children every step of their lives, freaking out if the most minor of misfortune comes across their precious future.

As is often the case, the majority of average, decent, middle of the road parents/children are dealing with the consequences of vocal extremes. On one hand, we have unsupervised kids causing all sorts of problems, and resulting zero-tolerence policies in schools where even a minor, accidental infraction can cause a serious interruption in the education even of a model student. On the other hand, we have over-supervised kids whos parents live in so much fear for their child that neither that kid nor their classmates can act like children are supposed to act.

A normal child with decent parents will take some bumps and bruises as he/she grows up, and will end up stronger for it. While getting hurt is not pleasant, it's often an excellent learning experience. You learn that not only will certain things result in pain, but also that bad things are going to happen in your life, and you need to learn to cope with it. Denying a child the chance to learn such things is not good parenting.

Homeschool .....

[Russ Nelson]

Homeschool .... it's the only way to get an education these days.

Re:Simple Child Care

[sinistre]

And then we send them off to war.

I'm a parent, and my son has bruises.

[RingDev]

Someone call child services. I play "chase" with my 2 1/2 year old son. We bounce on the couch. We jump on the bed. We have tickle fights.

In the last week my son has earned him self probably 5 new bruises, a stubbed toe, a face plant on the coffee table, and too many trips, flops, crashes, bangs, ouchies, and other bumps to mention. Mom and Dad are right there, we intervien if he gets into a dangerous situation (ie: playing in the kitchen when we're cooking, climbing the back of the couch/chairs, playing with other heavy/electrified/hot objects, etc...) but for the most part, we let him develop his strengths and learn and challange his limitations.

It's not much unlike my own childhood. In fact, I would challange any one of those board members to imagine their own childhood with out such games. I would also challange them to present any statistically meaningful data that would indicate a link between tag and childhood death or long term disability.

-Rick

Erm...

[pr0nbot]

You ban "unsupervised contact sports". By definition, no one is supervising. So how do you enforce the ban?

Why home schooling is booming

[mcrbids]

Home schooling and other alternative education programs (EG: charter schools, distance education, etc) are growing at exponential rates, approaching 50% per year in many areas.

With absurdities like this, is it any wonder why?

Take a look at the new Los Angeles Unified Director - he wants to "crack down" on children, make them all wear "regulation uniforms", adopt a "zero tolerance" set of rules, etc. None of which encourage anything like creativity, individuality, or happiness. And so the march of students into alternative programs grows ever stronger every year.

In my own home town of Chico, CA, there's a newspaper piece a few times per year, something like "Where are all the kids?". The census demographics indicate that Chico has a young population, inclined to produce lots of children. So for years, they've braced for this tidal wave of kids, that never came. Enrollments are lower than ever, and they're dealing with some fairly serious budget shortfalls.

So, they closed down the most remote school - a small school with like 50-60 kids - with the idea of bussing the children to a larger school closer in to save operating costs. Guess what happened? The parents of the school that closed down got a charter and opened up their own alternative education program in the same building as the old school. And *that* school now has almost 100 students! Closing the school actually *cost* the district money since now they no longer get the funding from either the kids they already had, nor the additional kids now enrolled in the new educational program!

It's choice in action - I wonder how long it will be until they get a clue and start competing?

Re:Simple Child Care

[Catbeller]

And after they're eighteen, they can pass through the body scanners, look into retinal pattern id readers, submit to body cavity searches, submit to endless background checks, drug checks, be pushed into first amendment zones, get checked on secret "terrorist" watch lists, have their email and IM's read, have their mail opened, packages scanned, DNA data catalogued, car monitored by GPS tracking devices, their phones tracked every second of their lives and by extention their own movements monitored until they die.

Sweet freedom! And that's just the people who haven't done everything. Get convicted of something and you are a prisoner for the rest of your life, if not in bricks then in opportunities.

And WHAT ARE THE ODDS of a terrorist attack hitting anyone? What are the odds of being killed by your car? Why aren't cars illegal, then? Why aren't there driver terror lists? Alchohol watch lists? Oh, why go on.

We've given up what it means to be free because we're terrorized cowards incapable of rational risk analysis. No sense of human rights, no idea of history not promulated by Fox News or equivalent.

So, what's a kid gonna look forward to after they release him from the school prison but the bigger prison that we all are sharing (unless we're rich -- whole different world for them, always).

Sheep, Wolves, Sheepdogs

[DG]

This keeps coming back to the Col. Dave Grossman (On Killing, On Combat) Sheep, Wolf, Sheepdog analogy.

I'll paraphrase:

Most people are Sheep - not in the pejurative sense, but rather in the sense that they are utterly incapable of doing violence to another human being. Most people will go through their entire adult lives without ever comitting - or even witnessing - an act of violence (not counting TV etc, which isn't "real" violence)

Sadly, there are Wolves, who prey on Sheep. Wolves seek out sheep to fuck them up, because they know that sheep cannot protect themselves.

Happily, there are also Sheepdogs; those who place themselves between the Sheep and the Wolves.

But to a Sheep, a Sheepdog looks a lot like a Wolf - same shape, same teeth, same snarl. So sheep are very uncomfortable around sheepdogs, because sheepdogs trade in violence, and it is violence (not intent) that most upsets sheep.

Sheep are always trying to make sheepdogs more like sheep, even when that is counter to their own long-term interests, because the ideal SheepWorld is a nice, safe, non-violent bubble where nothing bad ever happens to anybody.

So Sheepdogs must remain vigilant and active - not only counter the Wolves, but also counter the Sheep. It falls to the Sheepdogs of the world to prevent the sheep from defanging their own protectors.

As an aside, there's a local radio commercial here that just drives me absolutely insane - it's an ad for a jewelry chain, in which a soccer mom (with the most teeth-gratingly patronizing voice ever) congradulates her husband on his "evolution" - he packs lunches, he makes playdates, he cleans the house - but when it comes to buying gifts, he still sucks. So go to Jeweler X and don't screw it up this time. Oh, and don't forget to pick up the daughter and get her (irony alert!) to Tae Kwon Do by 5:00....

This is a PRIME example of the sheep trying to sheep-ify the sheepdogs.

But here's the real question: if you are a Sheepdog, what are YOU going to do about it?

DG

Re:Sheep, Wolves, Sheepdogs

[aristotle-dude]

What was that? All I hear was "Baah, Baah, Baah". You still do not get it do you? The Colonel was not just talking about military but also paramilitary forces such as police and fire departments. I see that you have been brainwashed quite throughly but did you ever stop to think why they are called public servants? They do the job that the average citizen is either unwilling or unable to do themselves.

For those who think that sheepdogs are irrelevant, let me ask you, what would you do to protect yourself from the wolves?

Re:Simple Child Care

[IcyNeko]

Thank you, sissy parents of America, for creating the next generation of wussy kids and further enhancing the downfall of human society.

Re:Simple Child Care

[Dr Caleb]

"Ok, kidding aside, I actually did manage to end up with stitches in my eyebrow from a game of tag when I was young."

Stiches, scraped knees and broken limbs are part of being a kid. You learned from your stitches. It took me more stitches - but i eventually learned.

We shouldn't take the learning experiences away from kids.

Re:Simple Child Care

[Jonny_eh]

Don't forget that when children get hurt, they often recover much quicker and more fully than an adult would with a similar injury. Evolution has created children to be more 'durable' than adults, for whatever reason. Kids need to get hurt and do stupid things, it teaches them what NOT to do in the future. When I was 8 I tried doing something stupid on the monkey bars, got hurt, recovered, never tried it again.

Re:Simple Child Care

[Sqwubbsy]

Yeah really. "Land of the Free" my ass. The kids aren't allowed to play tag?! TAG!!?

This IS Massachusetts we're talking about - the nanny state of all nanny states.
Their Senators are named Kennedy and Kerry.
'Nuff said.

Re:Simple Child Care

[geobeck]

Thank you, sissy parents of America...

To amend your statement: Thank you, opportunistic lawyers, wussy judges, and uninformed juries of America for creating a sue-me state that makes a simple game of tag a serious legal liability.

Re:Simple Child Care

[teh_chrizzle]

Why aren't cars illegal, then? Why aren't there driver terror lists? Alchohol watch lists?

dude, booze and cars are great sources of tax revenue. if you could get terra-ists to pay enough in taxes and have their own lobby on capitol hill, boards of education would teach kids how to make bombs in shop class.

Re:DCFS

[rblancarte]

The wuss answer for things of course - have someone else fight your battle for you.

This is prime example of what they have spoken about as far as the Wussification of America. We don't play tag, we don't play sports to win or lose, we have to cry to the authorities when things don't go our way.

This is a joke. Sports and especially games like Tag and Dodgeball teach prime lessions about life. That is mainly - if you don't like being the guy picked last or the one that is always it, or always getting hit first - GET BETTER. Seriously. If you are slow, and you are IT in tag, you better get faster or else you will always be it. If you don't like getting hit by the ball in dodge ball - learn to catch, and then learn to dish it out when you do have the ball.

Hell, sports - places don't want to keep score because "it will hurt feelings." BOO HOO. If you don't like losing - start winning. Learn to play better. Catch the football, hit the baseball, work out your jumper.

The amazing thing is that some of our best athletes were guys who learned that they hated to lose - Jordan (guy didn't even make JV his Sophmore year in high school!!!), McEnroe, Sampras, Montana, Gretsky (canaidian, but you get the point).

Fact is - IMHO, things like this are what are taking the competitve edge away from our country. It is starting the wusses young and making them that way as they grow up.

RonB

Re:Simple Child Care

[geobeck]

Except sit in front of the TV getting fatter playing video games.

Not for long. You just know someone is going to sue the major video game companies for childhood obesity, and some wussy judge is going to allow the suit to proceed... and, of course, some uninformed jury is going to award millions to the plaintiff, who was only a victim of his own inability to get his ass off the couch once in a while.

Re:DCFS

[porcupine8]

You think it's bad in sports! They're just catching up with the rest of schools. You can't give kids Fs or keep them behind a grade because it'll hurt their feelings. You can't put kids in accelerated classes or skip them a grade because it'll hurt the OTHER kids' feelings.

It's only just starting in sports, but soon it'll be just like the academic subjects: Everyone who wants to play a sport gets randomly distributed onto teams of mixed ability levels, and everyone is encouraged to play at the median level. Those who are faster, more flexible, more skilled, etc will have to sit on the sidelines until the rest of the team "catches up". The ones with real talent will have to look to outside programs to have any chance at developing their skills further.