School bans tag, other chase games

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#1
Can't even be a kid anymore!!!





And this comes just after numerous recent reports that say kids need more activity & exercise.....

So who's to blame - litiguous parents, attorneys or irrational, paraniod school officials??




ATTLEBORO, Massachusetts (AP) -- 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, Wyoming, and Spokane, Washington, also recently banned tag during recess. A suburban Charleston, South Carolina, 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.
 
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#2
the micromanaged comment is key.


that principle should be fired and exiled. what an effing idiot. can't we solve this with a waiver? or should we send kids to school with safety glasses because pencil led can snap under pressure and scratch a cornea. GOAEWEJ@#KASJW!
 

Big Daddy

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#3
"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."
I think you are both right, micromanaged is key, however all the factors Kirby mentions add to the confusion. It all began with being "Politically correct", because "...dodgeball...was exclusionary and dangerous." We can't have some kid being excluded now can we? Then someone sued, and schools became paranoid.
 
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#5
Big Daddy said:
We can't have some kid being excluded now can we? Then someone sued, and schools became paranoid.
Ahh, yes, can't be excluded. All kids are created equal and must be treated equal in school, right? Because school trains them for life, and we all know that life is equal for everyone, no one is excluded, nobody is smarter or stronger or faster or more talented or whatever than anyone else.

We have this crazy example in my daughter's high school. The parents' involvement and complaining about who was picked or cut from the football cheerleading squad has resulted in 21 (YES TWENTY-ONE) Varsity Cheerleaders!!! When I was in high school there were like 6 or 8!
 
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#7
I for one am very pleased to hear about this. I have a vision for the future of America. I would love to see an America full of pansies. When contact sports are outlawed on a professional level (and even non-contact sports. You can get hurt playing just about anything), then I will be happy.

While we're at it, let's outlaw breathing at school. Don't want to share any harmful bacteria, now do we?
 
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#8
My youngest brother is 11 (6th grade) and he complains how he's not allowed to do anything during recess. No basketball, no football, no box-ball, no dodgeball, no wall-ball, etc. I believe he is only allowed to play tag, and the girls resort to spending recess doing their homework. He goes to a fairly conservative private school here in NJ.
 
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#9
Bunch of political queers. Life has become too stale. Kids have to grow up so much faster now. While were at it why don't they just ban creative thinking as well. That way they can go for a slam dunk and squash all the spirit out of our children / future adults. This is just ridiculous....
 

Big Daddy

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#10
///M SPEED said:
Bunch of political queers. Life has become too stale. Kids have to grow up so much faster now. While were at it why don't they just ban creative thinking as well. That way they can go for a slam dunk and squash all the spirit out of our children / future adults. This is just ridiculous....
Well said Scott, well said! By the way are you going to the car show this weekend?
 


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