From APs Strange News via MyWay News:
Not It! Mass. Elementary School Bans Tag
Oct 18, 5:32 PM (ET)ATTLEBORO, Mass. (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, 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.
Are they freakin’ serious? Whatever happened to learning cause and effect? You run in the playground, you’re gonna fall down or run into someone. Duh. The kids are all obese but we won’t let them exercise on their own ’cause we don’t want ’em hurt. How is supervision going to prevent injuries? Shouldn’t they already be under supervision on the playground? I know we were never out of sight of any teacher.
Part of the fun and joy of childhood is play. Rough play is normal and should be allowed to happen. We learn our limits that way. We gain a feeling of accomplishment because we did it ourselves. Playing house is safe and fun and imaginative, sure, but even the pinkest little girl will get tired of it by the time she is in 6th grade.