The act(s) of being a kid banned in MA schools!

[petek]

Originally Posted by Allison K

I wonder how this will affect the students in the classroom. Being outside and active (running and playing) releases chemicals in the brain that help with the ability to focus and storage knwoledge (among other things).~Allison

Absolutely. I wonder how the teachers at that school feel about it? I'd expect to see a lot of kids acting out or daydreaming in class.

I'll go out on a limb here and suggest that the parents and/or administrators behind this didn't read this article, either.

[Jeremiah Johnson]

Wow... I never broke a bone* during school activities... all 5 times were far from school grounds. Tag was fun... does anyone remember Red Rover?


Off-Topic-Ish
*I did completely tear my MCL during football practice, there was also no treatment procedure by doctors and I was healed and back playing in two weeks. I'm a weaker version of Wolverine I suppose. Broke my had 3 weeks ago, realigned the bones myself and it's almost completely healed now, didn't see a doctor.

[KenWittlief]

Originally Posted by Budda648

... Broke my had 3 weeks ago, realigned the bones myself ...

this explains a lot! I'll bet you had an aweful HadAche for a while.

The most serious injury Ive suffered was falling and breaking my collar bone, on my neighbors concrete stair, when I was 5. My older sister was chasing me, I guess you could say we were playing tag in a way.

She was trying to tag me with a screwdriver.

[Jay H 237]

They better hurry up and ban lunch at school before some kid chokes to death!


I would never have guessed that back in the 80s when I was in elementary school that they would be banning certain games or even getting rid of the playground equipment. Back then you would fall off the equipment, get up, brush the mulch or sand off, climb back on, and maybe have a nice bruise later on.

Today the only place to learn about gravity is the science room, not falling off the monkey bars like in the past.


(Note to self: don't have kids in Massachusetts)

[Simon Strauss]

I definitely should not be old enough to remember the "Good Ole days" when tag was legal.

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by Simon Strauss

I definitely should not be old enough to remember the "Good Ole days" when tag was legal.

boy howdy -

freeze tag is the best

[KelliV]

I fell face first into the blacktop while playing TV tag, so did a lot of others... I have yet to know any of them that have sued the school.

[Jeremiah Johnson]

Has anyone ever played flashlight tag? We used to play it in the cemetaries... as I look back now that was pretty disrespectful and I can now remember why I don't like cemetaries.

[Andrew Blair]

Dogdeball was removed from our school in it's entirety a few years ago. That ticked me off...

The problem is, Americans are sue-happy. Not all, but, the cliche holds true, and schools counter to avoid risk. In other communities, westerly and in more remote regions, this isn't nearly as much of a problem. Life in general is riskier, and parents are willing to take a bit more risk as their own responsibility.

Unfortunately, especially in the NE, parents believe that when they send their kids away in the glistening cheese that first day of school, that they have, for aeven a short time, relinquished all control and responsibility for them. Whoohoo! Tax dollars doing something useful for once! However, as responsible adults know, this simply isn't the case. There are some legitimate reasons to sue a school district, but far too aften it's about pointing fingers, feel good vindication, and even cash.

Ex: My brother in elementary school was running up a pipe ladder in a school playground during recess, slipped, bashed his face in, and had to go to the emergency room for stitches, concussion test, etc. Could've claimed negligence, or other things, but thats absurd.

More serious... My friend has a brother that is seizure prone. He was playing on pull up bars, also during recess, fell off, on his head, began seizing. Negligence, imprper equipment, etc., but again, a frivilous lawsuit.

At a local elementary school, kids in my grade tell stories about how cool it was to go back and play at the "pit". Which happened to be a waste dumping area, complete with rusting barrels. Parents found out, but they didn't sue the school, they just took responsiblity and told their kids not to play there anymore!


Everyone knows a million examples of instances where there is an opportunity for a liability suit, but isn't action on it. It's the few, absurd people who feel the need to be an arse and sue for little reason. Districts need to cover their backsides, and the culture seems to permit this behavior.
* Sorry, that was an exceptionally long rant...

[Alexa Stott]

Originally Posted by Andrew Blair

Parents found out, but they didn't sue the school, they just took responsiblity and told their kids not to play there anymore!

Exactly. Parents aren't doing their jobs. If I did something wrong or stupid that ended in me getting injured, no matter how minor, my parents would say to me, "Well, then...don't do it again!" Now, parents don't do that. Half the reason there are such restrictions on content shown on television is due to the fact that parents don't even bother to monitor what their kids are watching, resulting in tons of censorship.

Also, this prevents kids from learning from experience. Well, like Elgin, if you slide in those half-frozen mud puddles and get dirty and wet and disgusting, you know not to do it. But oh no! They're not allowed outside when there are puddles! They could slip on it!

I nearly got detention in elementary school for not wearing a jacket to school on a day they thought I should have been! Kids are so sheltered and babyed (babied?) these days.

I say...LET THEM PLAY TAG!

[Kyle A]

Originally Posted by Andrew Blair

Dogdeball was removed from our school in it's entirety a few years ago. That ticked me off.....

They really didn't remove it, because we still play it now, its just not called dogdeball, but anyway i agree with what Andrew said.

but they really can't stop kids from having fun and playing those games, there is always a way to get around the rule, and once that is found out they will find a different way.

[Dan Petrovic]

Wow... I still can't believe they banned tag.

I wrestled with my friends during recess and none of us ever got hurt.

If they want to cut down on school injuries, keep kids inside during winter. One of my friends slipped during recess and broke his arm.