Must control fist of death

[volksdragon]

ATTLEBORO, Mass. - Tag, you're out!

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.

Elementary schools in Cheyenne, Wyo., and Spokane, Wash., also recently banned tag during recess. A suburban Charleston, S.C., school outlawed all unsupervised contact sports.

"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."

Another Willett parent, Celeste D'Elia, said her son feels safer because of the rule. "I've witnessed enough near collisions," she said.

Uh, so tell him not to play?

I mean, c'mon, how sad is this? I know I'm gonna sound like a fogey here, but I busted my lip open bigtime playing tag on a playground, and you know who got sued? NO ONE.

I don't even know what else to say. This is pretty sad.

Comments

[kewlnonutz.livejournal.com]

......annnnnnnnd the next thing you know, the paretns will be bitching because the kids are turning into fatasses because they arent getting exercise....

dude. kids bounce back. how sucky.

[jadefu.livejournal.com]

Yeah, and we used to do shit like swing as high as we could and jump off to see who could jump highest. Looking back I'm surprised there were no broken bones in the process, but between that, tag, and dodgeball we were always skinning knees and elbows.

The teachers were just out there making sure no one was fighting, THAT'S IT. Holy crap people are frickin paranoid now.

[siercia]

Hell, we did stuf like that, and I DID break my arm, and you know what? In the long run, it didn't matter. Sure it hurt like nothing else when it happened, and yeah, it sucked. But it was simply not that big a deal. I learned that it was really stupid to swing from the top rail of a swingset (well, duh).

[scirocco.livejournal.com]

It's only stupid after you fall off. Up to that point, IT'S AWESOME. :)

[jadefu.livejournal.com]

I just remembered another one: we used to play dinosaurs. You'd stand on the top of the slide and growl, usually jump up and down, and slide down on your knees or head first, because it was awesome. :)

[scirocco.livejournal.com]

Hahah. Hannah thought I was all Hardkore for sliding down the slide on my knees, backwards, at the playground the other day. :)

[reo.livejournal.com]

Doesn't anyone point out the complete idiocy in something like this? Probably not because they're concerned about keeping their political position, and saying "let the kids get hurt" is unacceptable.

'Recess is "a time when accidents can happen," said Willett Elementary School Principal Gaylene Heppe'
Guess what? LIFE is a time when accidents can happen! Stupid fucker. American is crashing and burning in its own irresponsibility.

[reo.livejournal.com]

Sorry, lots of typos and stuff due to my own fist of rage.

[etherial.livejournal.com]

In all likelihood, they're doing it so that they don't get sued into oblivion again.

[cfred.livejournal.com]

If anything, I say this increases the risk of the school getting sued.

Before, if an accident happens, it's an accident, kids will be kids, etc.

Now, if the school is taking precautions to keep the kids safe at recess, they must be safe everywhere else in the school. So, any accident isn't an "accident," it's now a failure of the school.

And for the record, half our playground equipment was bare concrete pipe. We climbed in it, jumped on it, you name it. Based on this principal, we should all have no teeth and multiply fractured arms as a result.

[siercia]

I find it interesting that they'll do this, but still allow "supervised" contact sports - the risk of injury is likely just as great, and the liability has got to be higher, since there's ostensibly a responsible adult overseeing the activity.

[cfred.livejournal.com]

Yes, but you have to sign a waiver to let your kid play contact sports, which means you assume the risk—or at least agree to hold the school harmless—for any injury during the game.

[ahf.livejournal.com]

I heard this on the radio while getting ready this morning and just stood and sputtered for a few minutes. Next thing you know, they will require full padded suits and dust masks for the kids to be able to go outside, one of em might fall on pavement or inhale dust.

[talesinsdaughtr.livejournal.com]

>>Celeste D'Elia, said her son feels safer because of the rule. "I've witnessed enough near collisions," she said.<<

So they'll do what all kids do; they'll get bruised and cry for about 45 seconds before they get up and join anothercahse game.

[scirocco.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I'm gonna be pissed if some stupid school undoes all the toughness training I'm building into Widget. :)

[string-on-desk.livejournal.com]

http://health.yahoo.com/news/167531;_ylt=AoV6faHDhXEyhVhL21a4FyNLvs8F

So.... we should let kids have play time, but restrict the hell out of it to make sure they don't get hurt...

Sounds like fun to me

[stevie-stever.livejournal.com]

I like things like they were back when WE were in grade school, when our mothers nagged -us- for doing stupid things during recess instead of nagging schools.

I begin to wonder what effect if any this will have on overall coordination. I'd like to know if the parent who said her child feels safer ever intends to let her son ride a bike without training wheels.

[goldispikes.livejournal.com]

Our safety culture is out of control. Already, people lack basic survival skills. How much longer until the majority CAN'T functuion without the machines?

FOAM PAD THE WORLD!!!

[bramblekite.livejournal.com]

...disgusting.

[nemomori.livejournal.com]

Posted this in Mere's journal where I saw it, but I'll post it again here:

I think this is the stupidest idea ever. I even told the Principal of an elementary school I worked at that when I heard it was banned at her school. The simple reason is this, rough-house play such as tag, chasing each other, and wrestling, is essential to childhood development both physically and socially. It is where parents and teachers have an opportunity to teach children about their limits in a safe environment.

Do accidents happen during tag on the playground? Of course they do! Just like they happen at home, usually to the same consequence. Jim pushes Billy to hard and Billy gets a skinned knee. Jim has to sit out for a little bit, losing precious recess time. Jim has now learned something about his own strength and how hard he can safely push Billy. Billy has learned to suck up a little pain and that it is possible for him to be pushed over.

These kids never get hurt doing small stupid things because of the rubbermaid environment we have wrapped them in, so they are going to hurt themselves doing BIG stupid things.

Parents are going to have to learn that kids bounce and kids get hurt. Let them play and have the bandaids ready for when they learn a lesson the hard way. Sheesh.

[gala.livejournal.com]

Hey, why not? Today is Ridiculous Day after all.

[kaasirpent]

Golly. Of the three broken bones I've had, two of 'em were during recess. And, like, you, whom did I sue? No one, that's who!

Granted, on one of them, all I wanted was a simple acknowledgement from...well, basically anyone...that I actually had a broken toe. The coach, principal, teacher, doctor, my parents, grandparents...all didn't believe me. Until the x-ray, dammit.

Not that I'm still bitter after almost 30 years. :)

[uma-bella.livejournal.com]

WTF!!!!???????

[noodlefan.livejournal.com]

Wow... that IS sad. Suing culture at its height...

BTW, how can a game being supervised prevent anyone from getting injured?

[liddle-oldman.livejournal.com]

This is nearly unbelievable. If I read it in a novel, I'd just roll my eyes.

I note that one theory on the sudden rise in asthma, allergies and sunsitivities is that no one is allowing children to encounter real life, and thus develop appropriate antibodies.

[yangelina.livejournal.com]

Man, these people need to see how the Taiwanese play dodgeball (with balls that has the (bumps?) like basketballs, pumped to be as hard as they can be without exploding, and they’re the size of volleyballs so they're easier to palm/chuck). It makes the game all the more violent and fun and oh god I miss it.

There is one thing that really bothers me about a large group of Americans is that they 1)refuse to take responsibilities for their own actions and 2)make everything they’re unhappy about to be someone else's fault. I feel this phenomenon very strongly, ever since I moved here from another culture. It explains (to me) why lawsuits are so popular in this country.

Anyway, this comment might be offensive to some people and be regarded as me generalizing, so I'll stop while I'm ahead.

[scirocco.livejournal.com]

I miss me some dodgeball. It made me NIMBLE, since my only strength in the game was my defensive ability to NOT get hit.

[yangelina.livejournal.com]

You/Me both. I'd bet it contributed to your Ultimate reflexes, too.
Anyhoo - I figured you're most in touch with Bostonian TIMsters so I'll start the grapevine through you, if you don't mind - Aaron and I are throwing a party on 10/28 and cordially invite Bostonian TIMsters with whom you are still in touch and think might be interested in joining. I send you an Evite (and you can invite others). We'd like to see you guys, it has been a while, plus it'll be (hopefully) a good (Halloween) party.
Let me know?
yanchi.tung (at) gmail

[yangelina.livejournal.com]

That is, I *can* send you an evite. :)

[scirocco.livejournal.com]

I can post it to the BostonTIMsters list, if you'd like. :)