OT: Sorry Tommy, no more playing tag...

[Kevan]

Schools are preventing kids from playing unsupervised tag or touch football on their grounds. You're it! (http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/10/18/no.tag.ap/index.html)

I'm sorry, but are we as a society really going in the right direction here?

Teeter-totters are out. Swingsets are dangerous. What 'bout them slides?

In New York City, behind the Supreme Courthouse, adjacent to Chinatown, is a playground where I used to enjoy seeing the local citizens practice their Tai Chi. I'm not opposed, maybe this should be the new recess exercise. Least no one is being chased.

Am I out of step? What do you parents of young children think? Aren't kids supposed to get scuffed up?

[gt6267a]

i am not a parent, but growing up i didn't go more than 48hrs without seeing some blood. in fact, i would guess over the course of my life that a good percentage of my skin has replaced itself due to flesh removal. this seems natural to me. i can't imagine being an adult and freaking out over a little blood.

battle tag, full contact football without pads, and like activities are part of growing up and learning what are bodies are capable of doing, recovering, but also that we are indeed mortal. to avoid injury at all costs as a child seems like a gaurenteed way to make life harder as an adult.

[Jeremy]

This is a very interesting problem. The safety above all else mentality that our society seems to embrace will have very negative consequences. The current move to prevent children from rough and potentially dangerous play, will likely create a generation of premature cripples. The development of bone mass, density and strength is stress related and time sensitive. In other words, bones develop more strength when exposed to higher stress. This process changes late in adolescence. It is possible to maintain adequate bone strength with diet and exercise late into life. However, if you don't make your bones strong as a child, they will be weaker and more prone to breaking as an adult. Ironically, the quest for more safety often makes us less safe.

Jeremy

[CNY rider]

This is a very interesting problem. The safety above all else mentality that our society seems to embrace will have very negative consequences. The current move to prevent children from rough and potentially dangerous play, will likely create a generation of premature cripples. The development of bone mass, density and strength is stress related and time sensitive. In other words, bones develop more strength when exposed to higher stress. This process stops late in adolescence. It is possible to maintain bone strength with diet and exercise late into life. However, if you don't make your bones strong as a child, they will be weaker and more prone to breaking as an adult. Ironically, the quest for more safety often makes us less safe.

Jeremy

Right on!

Is it really "safe" for a generation of our children to grow up in front of a video game, sitting on the couch? We're already a massively obese society; when do the dangers of long term obesity get factored into this?
How many children have actually been seriously injured playing tag? I'm sure it causes many skinned knees and bloody noses, but is that such a bad thing?

[jimh]

Kevan

You are right on! We are going in the wrong direction. I have a 10 yo and 12 yo. My wife and I do not hide our kids from these dangers. My 10 yo recently was at a friends house playing on a zip line that was set too high and fell off. He broke his arm in 3 places. He just got his cast off last week and will getting back to his ice hockey in another few weeks. The lesson he learned here was that bad decisions lead to bad consequences. I could have sewed the family who had the zip line set at about 9 ft. but what message would that have sent to my son. He should have looked at the situation, and thought if I fall I may get injured. Do I want to take that risk? If you ask him now if he will get back on his answer is a resounding No. Remember how guys learn. We need to do stupid things to figure out we should not do them again. If we are overly protective of our kids they will never learn to protect themselves or understand the meaning of risk.

jimh

[theprep]

Schools are preventing kids from playing unsupervised tag or touch football on their grounds. You're it! (http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/10/18/no.tag.ap/index.html)

I'm sorry, but are we as a society really going in the right direction here?

Teeter-totters are out. Swingsets are dangerous. What 'bout them slides?

In New York City, behind the Supreme Courthouse, adjacent to Chinatown, is a playground where I used to enjoy seeing the local citizens practice their Tai Chi. I'm not opposed, maybe this should be the new recess exercise. Least no one is being chased.

Am I out of step? What do you parents of young children think? Aren't kids supposed to get scuffed up?

Kevan

This topic hits close to home. I have (4) boys, 3, 5, 7 & 8 years old. My wife and I let em play rough, take risks, fall down all the time. I know for a fact that certain neighbors will not less us watch their kids because, the leash we give them, is too long. They are nuts, but different strokes for different folks.

You have to let them learn by making their own mistakes and falling down. They usually only need to fall off the slide once before they learn not to do that again. The same parents that have always followed their kid around, ready to catch him when he bumps into something are the ones today, who don't let them play on our jungle gym/slide/swing thing.

My 7 year old took his first bad MTB endo about a month ago, just scratches. He got the high speed wobbles on a small sandy hill and panicked. It took a couple of weeks, but he is back riding off road again. Guess what, he is standing and keeping fingers on the brakes like he is supposed to.

We are out of band aids again,
Joe

[kestrel]

I have to agree with what everyone is saying, but unfortunately society and times are changing. The law plays a greater part in our safety, and personal responsibility has taken a back seat to litigation. We can ***** about it all we want, but the facts are the facts. If you don't believe me, I'll have my lawyer sue you and see if you have an adequate umbrella policy. :D

[Jeremy]

I have to agree with what everyone is saying, but unfortunately society and times are changing. The law plays a greater part in our safety, and personal responsibility has taken a back seat to litigation. We can ***** about it all we want, but the facts are the facts. If you don't believe me, I'll have my lawyer sue you and see if you have an adequate umbrella policy. :D

So when a sedentary child grows up and his bones start breaking at 45, can the parents sue the school for not letting him play rough? (I'm joking of course)

Jeremy

[TimB]

I see the issue more from the perspective of the school system being afraid of being sued by some insipid parents after Johnny or Suzy loses a tooth playing tag. That's the real issue, more than purely 'safety.'

[ThasFACE]

Schools are preventing kids from playing unsupervised tag or touch football on their grounds. You're it! (http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/10/18/no.tag.ap/index.html)


This has more to do with tort law than it does protecting children.

EDIT: Damn, beaten to the punch.

[MassBiker]

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=23347 (http://)

:crap:

[d_douglas]

Not quite yet a parent, so feel free to bash me for being naive, but......

I agree with others that this is a ridiculous circumstance. I think it is more likely that parents fear the huge bills and incredible hassle of caring for their injured kids versus the MINUTE possibility that they might be seriously and irreparably injured while playing. It's mostly about money.

I had my feet taken out from under me by another kid while standing on an ice rink when I was 13 and landed on my face (no sh*t), had multiple root canals resulting in one saved tooth and one lost tooth and my Mom didn't utter a word (to me, anyways) I am sure she just concluded that this was an accident and it is part of life.

In fairness, she had dental care through her work, but still had to endure listening to me whine as my mouth slowly healed up!

As always, My Mom had the right attitude, in my opinion!!

[Kevan]

This has more to do with tort law than it does protecting children.

EDIT: Damn, beaten to the punch.

Seems the legal system and associated legislation are having a field day with what seems to me to be a loss in American spirit. For example, yesterday was a sad day for writ of habeas corpus. But I digress...

[92degrees]

Just to offer a differing POV -- I have a 5 year old in kindergarten this year. After picking him up a few times and observing what "tag" looked like when played with older kids (and few teachers stretched very thin at the end of the day), my wife and I were a bit concerned. Turns out we were slow to voice objection -- a child was seriously injured the next day and the school has changed the way "child pick-up" is handled so that the kids do different types of activities and more teachers are available to watch kids. "Tag" is off limits.

I'm hardly protective. He spent the summer swimming off the boat in the ocean, racing his bike (including kid's cross, and kid's PMC), archery, i let him steer the car in the neighborhood, all the fun dad stuff.

Getting yanked to the ground by your arm by a kid nearly twice as large isn't really a necessary part of the school experience. ATMO.

Now, dodgeball, well that's a life skill.

[Climb01742]

it happens in other areas of a kid's life too. at my daughter's school (she's 9) the teachers don't grade papers/test with red ink. red is apparently too harsh. and no one "fails" or gets an "F" anymore. again, too harsh. and no child has a "weakness" anymore (like doing math or reading). now it's "area for imporovement". i cringe as much as any parent when my daughter falls while ice skating, but falling, and failing, teach her as much, if not more, than uninterrupted success. i am not, of course, arguing for anything draconian, but reality is sometimes harsh. better to learn to deal with it in small kid-size-doses.

[Kevan]

Getting yanked to the ground by your arm by a kid nearly twice as large isn't really a necessary part of the school experience. ATMO.

and I think school systems have worked hard to address bullying, if I can add such instances to your example. In that ~ Wanting cake and eating it too ~ view, nobody wants to see that level of freedom, except perhaps the bullies themselves. In my day of chasing the skirts in the school yard, we were isolated by grade so us wee punks didn't get ourselves pummeled by the older goons.

School budgets being what they are, I guess I shouldn't be surprised, just disappointed.

[bozman]

This article is a bit long but worth the read.


http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20041112-000010.html

[67-59]

As a parent of 10 and 12 year old daughters, I'm torn.

On the one hand, I hate seeing things like this, because they don't let kids be kids, and discourage reasonable physical activity. Of course, that makes them fatter and fatter, which makes them sit even more. And as others have said, this measure that's meant to protect the kids will actually harm them in the end.

On the other hand, I see more and more parents who seemingly let their kids do pretty much anything they want, so the kids have no fear of consequences. When I was growing up, it seemed all my friends and I had a real fear of getting punished by our parents if we did something really bad. That didn't always prevent bad things from happening, of course, but it seemed to keep things reasonably in check. Now that I'm a parent, I see fewer and fewer kids who seem to have a healthy respect for/fear of authority. Indeed, I have seen some kids exhibiting appalling behavior right under their parents' noses -- behavior that neither my parents nor I would tolerate -- and yet those parents do nothing. This, in turn, seems to have bred meaner and more thoughtless kids. And if/when those kids are in my daughters' class, I can see a real benefit to restricting unsupervised activities.

Now I'm not saying all, or even most, parents are like this. But I've certainly noticed more than I did in the past, and a few irresponsible parents leads to a few irresponsible/dangerous kids, and that ruins things for everybody.

The answer: Parents need to get back to where they take their parental responsibilities more seriously, so that it once again becomes possible for us and our schools to trust their kids. It doesn't take a village to raise a child. It takes responsible parents, who are there to teach the children right from wrong. If we don't get back to that, we're in trouble.

[Keith A]

Good points by all and I appreciate this article being posted.
The answer: Parents need to get back to where they take their parental responsibilities more seriously, so that it once again becomes possible for us and our schools to trust their kids. It doesn't take a village to raise a child. It takes responsible parents, who are there to teach the children right from wrong. If we don't get back to that, we're in trouble.I have to say that I think 67-59 hit the nail on the head. The amount of respect given to parents and others in authority by many of the youth of today is appalling and I fear what the future holds if things don't change.

[Dekonick]

I see the issue more from the perspective of the school system being afraid of being sued by some insipid parents after Johnny or Suzy loses a tooth playing tag. That's the real issue, more than purely 'safety.'

It is not about principle's but paranoid principal's.

Litigation = suffocation.

God help us!

[Elefantino]

Seems the legal system and associated legislation are having a field day with what seems to me to be a loss in American spirit. For example, yesterday was a sad day for writ of habeas corpus. But I digress...

Meanwhile, a billion Chinese are laughing at us and putting their kids through vigorous, mandatory school exercise.

We are fast becoming the 20th-century England of the 21st century. One difference: The Brits lost the flower of a generation on the battlefield. We're killing ours on the couches and in the courtrooms.

I am not anti-lawyer, at least not knee-jerkily. I am anti-bad parent, and the fact that Tommy's mommy and daddy complained to the school board because their little precious was made fun of by faster, more tag-savvy kids shows a delusional pattern of Americans who expect life to be without bumps And you only learn about life from the bumps.

Meanwhile, a billion Chinese — whose century THIS will be — are laughing.

[Too Tall]

Uh gee when I was only 6'6' in elem school (wink wink) we played unsupervised kick ball, dodgeball, keep away etc. etc. and the only thing that every got hurt were some menthol ciggies. Paranoia will destroy yah.

[Kevin]

Let kids be kids. Let them play. Let them have fun.

Kevin

[fiamme red]

http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2009/06/raising_free-range_kids.html

[Richard]

With all due respect to those that want to jump on the tort system as the root of our downfall, I offer a bit of a different perspective. The lack of resources at our schools caused by budget issues has resulted in a much lower supervisor to kid ratio on the playground as compared to my past. The negligence is real (not just a legal construct) if a school allows unsupervised kids to play "dangerous" games during recess, etc. That is not a problem of the tort system but of ever constrained budgets.

I say this as a parent of a 6 year old who allows him to lose as much skin as he is willing to risk. He rock scrambles, skipped T-Ball straight to little league with the 8/9 year olds and is no worse the wear for it (I would say more confident and stronger). If the school has to "calm" the recess periods in recognition of their lack of supervisory capacity, so be it. Good parenting extends to the parent involving their kids in real activity after school and not relying on the school to provide for it during. And yeah, parents should teach their kids not to be aholes to the smaller ones, thereby easing the burden on the schools, but lots just don't.

[Skrawny]

When I was in 6th grade in Pasadina, CA, they outlawed tag during recess.
That was in 1981.
-s

[Lifelover]

..... Good parenting extends to the parent involving their kids in real activity after school and not relying on the school to provide for it during. And yeah, parents should teach their kids not to be aholes to the smaller ones, thereby easing the burden on the schools, but lots just don't.

Agreed. Good parenting starts at home. And by home I mean having a parent that stays there and doesn't work. Having the big house, nice car and new Serotta aren't worth our kids future's.