Danger! Kids Playing Tag

[Kabar]

This may be ofn on here, I dunno, I just happened to be flipping through the Oct. 30 Time Magazine and found this article. I Found it to be completely retarded so I thought that I would post it on here word for word from the Article. Here goes.

Game over for students in Attleboro, Mass., who yelled "You're it!" one final time at Willett Elementary School last week. The School has forbidden tag--as well as touch football and all other "chase" games--during recess, a move that made national headlines. As in schools from South Carolina to Wyoming that have implemented similar bans recently, Attleboro administrators cite fears that children could get hurt and their parents might sue. According to some parents, another factor was concern that such games could hurt self-esteem if, say, one kid were always "it".

The Attleboro ban drew instant criticism--and not just from play ground libertarians and young players. "It's not the right route to take," says Charlene Burgenson, executive director of the National Association for Sport and Physical Education, who believes tag is "exactly the type of activity that is appropriate at recess." It wont harm kids "physically or phychologically," she says, and argues that the exercise could even help, give the rising rates of obesity among young people.

Tag players shouldn't lose all hope, since grownups often change their minds. In the Spokane, Wash., school district, which banned tag at recess last school year, the game is still being played--as part of the P.E. curriculum.--By Elisabeth Salemme

I am curious if any of the parents that are on this board would actually agree with this, or allow something like this to go on at their childs schools, and if you would, how much does the bubble wrap cost that you send your kid to school in day in and day out?

Again, sorry if it is ofn, i've never seen anything like this posted, but i could be wrong. >.>

[Devek]

Its just the times man.

They banned Halloween and Christmas too.

It is because today's school is supposed to imprison children with safety and ignorance, not prepare them for life and diversity.

[Huggo]

Yeah, when I was in junior high we could play with the footballs at lunch. Until one day when a kid tackled another kid. Then all basketballs, footballs, soccer balls, and the like were banned.

[Kabar]

Personally I find it pretty disgusting if this is what we are sinking to as a society. Taking away simple childhood games cause they might hurt someones feelings is bad, but parents suing a school cause their kid got hurt at recess playing tag is just a disgusting new low. Fuckin lawyers man... Please someone tell me that we aren't really getting this soft?

[Boyiee]

t is because today's school is supposed to imprison children with safety and ignorance, not prepare them for life and diversity.

i dont think that last part could be more true.

[Daahan]

HEY GUYS, LETS CUT DOWN ON MORE PHYSCIAL ACTIVITY SO AMERICA'S YOUTH-OBESITY RATE CAN INCREASE.

That's the most fucking retarded thing I have ever heard. First, 'chase' games like touch-football, tag, and dodgeball in elementary school or what-have-you are good physical activities for young kids.

Second, those games are fun as hell and make up a huge part of a person's childhood.

[Rafbacca]

They shouldn;t be playing tag anyway.

They should be playing Manhunt. When they catch who's "it" they beat the shit out of them. I'm sure that will do wonders for their self esteem.

[SephYuyX]

Dodgeball was banned from my HS my senior year.

[Mala]

They banned tag from my elementary school when i was young.

Sad sad day

[DeadLegend]

We used to play a variation called monster tag where whoever got tagged was added to the "it" team, the last person not to be it was the winner and started the next game as it. They should implement monster tag to make the fucking pussies who can't handle being "it" feel better. If kids can't play football, dodgeball, or tag at recess, wtf are they gonna do?

[SephYuyX]

We used to play a variation called monster tag where whoever got tagged was added to the "it" team, the last person not to be it was the winner and started the next game as it. They should implement monster tag to make the fucking pussies who can't handle being "it" feel better. If kids can't play football, dodgeball, or tag at recess, wtf are they gonna do?

Go back to class!

I bet thats the next step. Have a 15minute lunch and then just go back to the learnings.

[Devek]

We used to play a variation called monster tag where whoever got tagged was added to the "it" team, the last person not to be it was the winner and started the next game as it. They should implement monster tag to make the fucking pussies who can't handle being "it" feel better. If kids can't play football, dodgeball, or tag at recess, wtf are they gonna do?

Drugs and gay sex.

[Kenai]

Complain about kids being fat, then ban basically everything they want to do for fun from recess.

If they don't WANT to do them, that's one thing. But forcing people not to do a usually harmless activity because someone might get hurt...god forbid they apply those methods to driving, or going outside, or, you know, living.

[Kyomu]

<--- Teacher, female teacher at that

This is just about the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life. There is a limit to bolstering self-esteem in children when they haven't done anything but whine to mommy and daddy about it. I am seriously tired of having phonecalls from parents who are upset that their student got a 90 on a project. A fucking 90. When I was in school a 90 was holy shit amazing! Now it's 100 or "Can we do extra credit."

Taking out any sort of competitive action from school is just catering to this idiot child empowerment movement and needs to be stopped immediately. There's even been talk about removing competitions from Technology class, like races and bridge competitions. I'm all for students having some sort of rights and parents having a say in their child's education, but I didn't take 4 years of undergraduate, 2 more years of undergraduate for my second certificate, and 3 years of grad school so some (pardon for being stereotypical) Wal-Mart employee can tell me that their student should be able to take a test or do a project over because they got a 90. Or that, "Little Sally can't play dodgeball because it makes her feel bad."
I have glasses, I was fat in High School, and I was a dork. And I LOVED dodgeball. Get the fuck over your emo. And don't be afraid to tell your goddamn children to get with the program and stop whining, because apparently we as teachers aren't allowed to anymore.

Wow that turned into a rant, LOL

[Cesaria]

Another female teacher (6-8 year old kids)

The thing is, however hard you try to sugar coat things - kids are innately competitive creatures. If you don't mark things wrong... they count the ticks, if you don't have ability groups... they know that Johnny does different work to Janey, they know what colour reading book they're on... and they DO compare. Hell, mine managed to make a competition out of who had the longest pencil the other day.

My little brother's school once had a "non competitive sports day" when he was about 8. It was the most boring pile of junk ever - everyone came along, threw a ball into a hoop, got a point for taking part, and patted themselves on the back. Jeez stuff that lark - sports day is mean to be fun (although the beanbag between the knees race does give the staff one heck of a laugh sometimes), with the exception of the mums and dads race which is usually a bloodbath of allegations of cheating and corruption.

I'm a bad girl... I give my class spelling tests, and I mark things that are wrong with a cross to be corrected. I even ask for improvements on things in the future... I guess I'm a really bad person. I get a fucktonne of flack when kids don't get 10/10 on spelling tests... generally from the same kid's parents who never took the list home and bothered to learn it anyhow. They seriously come in and request spellings on the level of "dog, cat, man" again so that their kid doesn't feel upset at getting some wrong

Hell - you even have this utter b*llocks about not using red pen to mark children's work anymore as red damages their self esteem. We're not meant to correct spellings unless we've specifically told the children we're going to (balls to that, I'll write it out spelt correctly so they actually SEE how it's meant to be spelt). I mean, how the HELL did I survive to adulthood with all those big red crosses in my work as a child?

[Daahan]

really, some of the most vivid memories from my childhood is the games we used to play during recess at elementary school, among other things.

Not only was it good excersise for kids our age, but it was also shit loads of fun.

seriously if this crap is still taking place when I send my kids to school, i would still oppose it.

[Devek]

I always remember the crazy rules we had in tag, they sometimes got confusing and overwhelming.

We played on the rocks and if you went off the rocks you were immediately "it".

This fat kid was charging me and I knew I was screwed, I was down at the bottom of the big toy with no escape in sight. I ran to the edge of the rocks near the corner and he kept charging me to tag me.

"You're it!" he said.

I dropped down to the ground so when he came up to tag me he wasn't able to stop cause of the rocks.. He slid right into me and flipped over and landed on his back outside of the rocks.

"You're it" I said.

We used to also play soccer and if you kicked the ball in the air and it hit a girl on the way down that was considered a bimbo point.

Certain girls were worth more points than others. I had a crush on one of the girls who was worth a decent amount of points, her name was Meridith. Ashley was worth the most points, she was the only girl in 4th grade to have to wear a bra.

[Daahan]

Anyone here ever play "Woodchips" on your school's playground set? BEST GAME EVER

I wonder when they'll ban Four-Square, because obviously bouncing a basketball towards someone is a fucking safety hazard, amirite guys?

[Scythiroth]

I really don't know why anyone would want to be a teacher now with all this bullshit in schools now, I would never have the patience to deal with parents pretty much always thinking you are wrong in your ways of teaching even though you went to school for years learning about it.

I guess any job can be that way, but teachers still get paid hardly anything right?

Those long breaks are the only really good thing I see about being a teacher.

[Alleya]

On the one hand, I remember getting in a lot of fist fights over competative stuff like tag, and being singled out and targeted for way more physical force than could really be considered all in good fun. So I'm glad kids won't have to put up with the shit that I did and end up being punished once or twice a week, sitting in the principle's office with a bloody nose and pissed off parents. That much of it was pretty damaging psychologically.

On the other, when I got to middle school and there was no more recess, the abuse just turned into something else. When kids can't hit you they'll just figure out other ways to try and make you cry, and most of them will be much deeper and longer lasting wounds.

Kids will always fuck with eachother, that's just how it is. Banning or removing one thing will just increase focus on another. But the funny part is that we all survived it just fine. Our parents survived worse, and their parents survived worse than that. I think education boards need to be focused on teaching kids actual skills and getting them interested in things that could become careers instead of making them memorize random useless facts for the next standardized test, rather than making sure Jimmy doesn't feel left out.