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Printer-Friendly ModeBanning physical games hurts children
Games such as tag, dodgeball help provide kids with valuable lessons
October 23, 2006 —
Recently, an Attleboro, Massachusetts elementary school decided to prohibit tag and touch football as well as other chase games during recess. The school allegedly enacted the regulations to protect themselves from a lawsuit in the event a child was injured. This begs the question: what the hell are these kids supposed to do now?
Elementary schools have recesses so that children can release their pent-up energy so they are able to concentrate in school. How exactly are these kids going to focus in school if they can't even run around and chase one another - the perfect metaphor for childhood? Shame on any parent who would consider suing a school for their child's injuries during normal recess activities. Our society is already legalistic enough without you trying to spoil the kids' fun simply because you had a traumatic childhood.
However, this seems like a convenient reason for school officials to simply assert their authority over children at increasingly younger ages.
If kids aren't allowed to play tag, what are they supposed to do at recess? Sit around and play their Gameboys? It's only a matter of time at this school that many of these kids will turn to electronic games to satisfy their boredom.
I shudder to think how these kids are going to turn out if they can't act like normal children. Are they going to turn all Michael Jackson and try to act like children when they're 40? If you're not going to let kids act like kids, then what is the point in having recess? Why not just shorten the day and send the kids home early?
How are we supposed to teach kids to be independent when their every need is coddled? Children scrape their knees, bruise their elbows, and get bloody noses. But they don't dwell on these injuries for long, and neither should hypochondriac adults.
It's not just tag that is under attack. A lot of today's youth don't even get to play dodgeball at school anymore; the states of New York and New Jersey ban it altogether. The rationale for banning dodgeball is that it serves as a venue for some kids to be unfairly victimized by the stronger.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this how society functions? Maybe I was different than most kids, but when I was eight, nothing gave me more satisfaction than hitting another kid in the head, and hopefully getting them to cry.
People wonder why the youth flocks to video games instead of playing outside. Maybe part of it is because they crave the ability to actually play with other kids instead of being forced to participate in the solitary activities of recess - the jungle gym, swings, and other equipment.
Kids cannot even get hurt on these today because now they have wood chips to brace their falls, instead of the nice, comfortable concrete slab that I so fondly remember.
Getting hurt is part of life. If kids don't learn this valuable lesson when they're young, it will be all the more devastating when they're older. There are already enough emo kids running around as it is.
My family and friends always ask if I am going to be a teacher, since everyone commonly believes that all SVSU produces is teachers. Well I'm not, but I know that a good chunk of the students here are studying to be teachers.
You are responsible for the next generation of students. You owe it to the youth to let the kids have as much fun in childhood as you did.