So, what they’re saying is playing tag is the marijuana gateway drug to the hard core heroin of violence of the beating videos?
At McLean School, Playing Tag Turns Into Hot Potato
Robyn Hooker, principal of Kent Gardens Elementary School, has told students they may no longer play tag during recess after determining that the game of chasing, dodging and yelling “You’re it!” had gotten out of hand. Hooker explained to parents in a letter this month that tag had become a game “of intense aggression.”
[…]
The decision has touched off a debate among parents. Some call the restriction an example of overzealous rulemaking that fails to address root problems and undermines children’s development; others say it’s best to err on the side of caution.“We are regulating the fun out of normal childhood activity,” said Jan van Tol, father of a Kent Gardens sixth-grader. “In our effort to be so overprotective, we are not letting children be children.”
[…]
“This is not the old-fashioned tag, where you could use two fingers and you would be it and move on to someone else,” Hooker said. The game, she said, has become much more aggressive. “I call it the nouveau tag.”This tag involves grabbing people who do not necessarily know they are playing and possibly bumping them to the ground. “Then the kids do ‘pyramiding’ or ‘towering.’ They pile on each other. [Sometimes] they call it ‘jailhouse’ or ‘jailbreak,’ ” because the child has to break out, she said.
Here’s a look at the whole issue of recess which is disappearing in some places.
She saw some kids getting aggressive and put a temporary stop to it. What is the big deal? Jan Van Tol would probably be the first to hit the school with a law suit if they stood by and did nothing after seeing kids get a little out of hand.
When my kids get out of hand, I put a temporary stop to games too.
So I guess that rules out Dodge Ball as well !!! But then, in high school they OK Football ??? I don’t know any kids that have died from playing tag, but Football is CLEARLY A KILLER !!!
And in a few months they will complain about child obesity. And they’ll tell the kids to go run around more. Such is the circle of life….
If tag is dangerous, then the school has a duty to teach the kiddies how to play it safely. That way, the kiddies can apply the tag lessons to other similar situations in life. Like standing in line for lunch, or your unemployment check, or whatever.
Schools need to teach basic skills.
My goodness, how did I survive growing up in the 70’s?
FTA: “Then the kids do ‘pyramiding’ or ‘towering.’ They pile on each other.”
When I was in grade school, all the kids called that a “n—–” pile. Ah, life in rural white wisconsin….
PIG PILE on Robyn!!!!!
Wasn’t “TAG” invented in Canada to kill off American kids?
So get a responsible teacher (aren’t those supposed to be synonymous?) out there to enforce a game of two-finger touch, or they get no tag for a week already.
Sheeeesh, you think those people were former Bush administrators. 🙂
I appreciate this story being posted here as I missed it on my own.
“Michael Haaren, a father, said that if some children are being too aggressive, they should be disciplined.”
I agree with this statement. As the father of a first-grader, one of the things my son talks about is playing tag at recess. Sometimes someone accidentally gets tagged too hard, but overall no major problems.
One concern is the lack of an appropriate number of recess monitors and that some tend to spend their time chatting amongst themselves instead of monitoring.
Discipline the problem kids and make sure to have a discussion with the parents about the problem.
As a survivor of “Kill the carrier” a 70s recess game that involved grabbing a red ball then everyone trying to tackle you till you threw the ball away, then someone else picked it up and it started again. These games can get out of control. I dislocated my elbow playing that. Ouch.
#13–did you ever play punch the dummy?
#6) We called it “Smear the Queer” in suburban Chicago area.
And while it certainly wasn’t that fun to be on the bottom of the pile, I’m sure it made me tougher.
This will create a society of wimps. This is how Europe(and Canada) caves in to Muslims.
What is the world doing these days! I personally think that they should teach the kids what to do instead of banning! If banned, the kids will never learn what is right and wrong of the game ‘it’ and other games and will do it on and on in the future. If teached they’ll get to learn the rights and wrongs of their actions and will not do it in the future! Come on, stop being so gracious-damn stubborn!!!
…and Bobo is the man I agree with! :)!
#18–AWWang–you have excellent comprehension skills. But please find a post of mine you disagree with, and rip me a new one. (Just one, not two.)
Yo, you all realize that that teacher is just doing what she thinks is best and you have to respect that. However i love tag so it is kind of stupid how they banned it. It’s not like kids aren’t going to go home and play tag.