Not It!!!

[twyrch]

Tag banned at schools... What's next? Duck, Duck, Goose?

Not it! Mass. elementary school bans tag
Wed Oct 18, 10:00 AM ET

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.

[CynanMachae]

Yah never know, Twyrch, all that head-patting in duck-duck goose could end in bruised skulls and sprained fingers! Haha, that's crazy.

Good thing this kind of thing doesn't apply to homeschooling, 'cause with my parents it was just one long day of recess just kidding, of course.

[twyrch]

I'm glad it didn't happen when I was in school... I'd have gone insane.

[Hinata]

So there were too many near collisions. . .Have these people actually seen kids play? I remember playing Tag. . .if you collided you cried a little, stood up, shook it off and ran after the person you were going to get. . .either that or you'd have a whole group of people stand around you and as soon as you were able to stand up you'd tag someone . . . Kids bounce back up.

[dgan]

That's what happens when everything has a price tag...

[dreamer]

Isn't it sad that it says what a get-rick-quick country we've turned out to be that we'll even sue our schools when our kids get hurt on the playground??!!

Whatever happened to personal responsibility?

[Hinata]

actually, you know it's kind of like the Greek Gods when you think about it. . .Kids are supposed to have more responsibilites than adults. . .All adults want "is to do what they want to do, no one can tell them otherwise" and yet, we constantly restrict the kids to be responsible. . . what a twisted world we live in. . .

[dgan]

I find it humorous that they have enough staff to prevent kids from playing tag, but not enough to supervise the kids playing tag. What type of devastating injuries are documented from playing tag? Is it anything a prompt response, a bandaid, or (at worst) immediate medical attention wouldn't prevent?

There is a wonderful thing called "home-schooling" for parents that truly want to supervise their own kids. It is a sad day when parents intentionally put their kids in harm's way for the purpose of collecting money.

"Now, Billy, at recess today, I want you to find the biggest kid on the playground and crash into him as hard as you can. Then cry like crazy. A few hours with Mr. Johnson -- you know, the nice lawyer? -- and we can get that new bike for you, ok?"

What a crock.

[whitetrash]

see now thats just sad they wont let kids be kids