America - the land of pussies

[justinevans]

Some traditional childhood games are disappearing from school playgrounds because educators say they're dangerous.
Elementary schools in Cheyenne, Wyo., and Spokane, Wash., banned tag at recess this year. Others, including a suburban Charleston, S.C., school, dumped contact sports such as soccer and touch football.

In other cities, including Wichita; San Jose, Calif.; Beaverton, Ore.; and Rancho Santa Fe., Calif., schools took similar actions earlier.

The bans were passed in the name of safety, but some children's health advocates say limiting exercise and free play can inhibit a child's development.

Groups such as the National School Boards Association don't keep statistics on school games.

But several experts, including Donna Thompson of the National Program for Playground Safety, verify the trend. Dodge ball has been out at some schools for years, but banning games such as tag and soccer is a newer development.

"It's happening more," Thompson says. Educators worry about "kids running into one another" and getting hurt, she says.

In January, Freedom Elementary School in Cheyenne prohibited tag at recess because it "progresses easily into slapping and hitting and pushing instead of just touching," Principal Cindy Farwell says.

Contact sports were banned from recess at Charles Pinckney Elementary early this year, says Charleston County schools spokeswoman Mary Girault, because children suffered broken arms and dislocated fingers playing touch football and soccer.

Some schools that ban games at recess allow children to play them in gym class under supervision.

Critics of the bans say playing freely helps kids learn to negotiate rules and resolve disputes.

"They learn to change and to problem-solve," says Rhonda Clements, an education professor at Manhattanville College.

Joe Frost, emeritus professor of early childhood education at the University of Texas-Austin, sees playground restrictions as harmful.

"You're taking away the physical development of the children," he says. "Having time for play is essential for children to keep their weight under control."

[radiofriendly]

i could take both sides on this.

[boysdontcry17]

hahahahhaha

[ghostyouare]

When I finally have a kid it's going to be required that I send him to school with a helmet and elbow pads on.

[we are cured]

a large portion of children are overweight and/or physically inactive due to the surge in handheld video game addiction. how are they ever going to get in shape when play in physical activities is discouraged? it's bullshit if you ask me- let the obese kids sit on the side of the building trapped in their own little gaming worlds, devoid of social interaction, so we can breed a bunch of self-centered people that have no idea how to deal with each other.

[howdydoody]

just wow.. things never cease to amaze me.

[ClapClapSnap]

Laame...I remember when Red Rover was banned at the day camp I worked at. My friends and I have gotten into heated arguments because I think kids wearing helmets/pads for riding bikes or using rollerblades is retarded.

[I am all talk]

Laame...I remember when Red Rover was banned at the day camp I worked at. My friends and I have gotten into heated arguments because I think kids wearing helmets/pads for riding bikes or using rollerblades is retarded.
If you really believe that it is retarded for children to wear helmets while riding their bikes then the world would be better off without you. Banning tag and other lunch time activities is ridiculous but red rover is a dangerous game. The entire point of the game is to break through the other teams lock on their arms. It is very easy to break and arm or crack a rib playing this game.

[ClapClapSnap]

If you really believe that it is retarded for children to wear helmets while riding their bikes then the world would be better off without you. Banning tag and other lunch time activities is ridiculous but red rover is a dangerous game. The entire point of the game is to break through the other teams lock on their arms. It is very easy to break and arm or crack a rib playing this game.

Red Rover I can understand, I won't argue with that at all.

And the whole helmet thing, I'm only being half-serious. Sure, when my kids are learning how to ride a bike I'll make them wear a helmet. I just think it's lame when when parents load their kids up with pads/helmets when they're like 10 years old. I don't want my kids to have a shit over a scraped knee, you know what I mean?

[dai the flu]

If you really believe that it is retarded for children to wear helmets while riding their bikes then the world would be better off without you. Banning tag and other lunch time activities is ridiculous but red rover is a dangerous game. The entire point of the game is to break through the other teams lock on their arms. It is very easy to break and arm or crack a rib playing this game.

yeah cuz you know how many times we broke ribs and arms playing red rover growing up.

HOW DID WE EVER SURVIVE?

[ClapClapSnap]

yeah cuz you know how many times we broke ribs and arms playing red rover growing up.

HOW DID WE EVER SURVIVE?

Seriously, my brother and I used do some crazy stuff when we were younger. Yeah my parents kept an eye on what we did, but they didn't let us stay inside all day. They told us to go out and play...kids don't do that these days.

[hockey0001]

Red Rover I can understand, I won't argue with that at all.

And the whole helmet thing, I'm only being half-serious. Sure, when my kids are learning how to ride a bike I'll make them wear a helmet. I just think it's lame when when parents load their kids up with pads/helmets when they're like 10 years old. I don't want my kids to have a shit over a scraped knee, you know what I mean?

completely disagree on the bike thing. A 13 year old who lived directly behind one of my best friends got killed riding his bike 2 weeks ago, if he had a helmet on he would still be alive

[Broken Parachute]

They banned tag in my elementary school. They yelled at us if we even started to run.

[JezisHChrist]

Who knew that soccer was a contact sport.

I guess you can credit that to Zidane.

[bigmike]

completely disagree on the bike thing. A 13 year old who lived directly behind one of my best friends got killed riding his bike 2 weeks ago, if he had a helmet on he would still be alive
i don't want to sound like a dick or anything, but could you be sure of that? we've had kids around here die while wearing helmets.

[dai the flu]

kids have freak accidents. accept it. theyll break bones, theyll lose teeth, that doesnt mean you put them in rubber rooms and shield them from being kids. yeah its sad that some have been killed. but people have died stepping out of their showers, you dont make kids wear helmets in the bathtub.
let kids be kids.
we turned out fine, as did every single generation that came before us.

[radiofriendly]

everybody's talking like these are the only forms of physical activity that can be utilized at elementary schools. im sure these kids still have a P.E. block everyday. kids won't be fat and out of shape because they can't play tag, or even soccer during recess. certainly there's other issues with this though. stupid lawsuits most likely also play a big role in these decisions also.

[I am all talk]

Red Rover I can understand, I won't argue with that at all.

And the whole helmet thing, I'm only being half-serious. Sure, when my kids are learning how to ride a bike I'll make them wear a helmet. I just think it's lame when when parents load their kids up with pads/helmets when they're like 10 years old. I don't want my kids to have a shit over a scraped knee, you know what I mean?
I do agree that once a kid knows how to ride a bike, rollar blade, etc they don't really need to wear the elbow pads and knee pads until they begin doing more risky things mimicing the x games. A helmet should be necessary though. It can make such a difference and like the other guy said a helmet could have saved that kids life.

[kidinthecorner]

I do agree that once a kid knows how to ride a bike, rollar blade, etc they don't really need to wear the elbow pads and knee pads until they begin doing more risky things mimicing the x games. A helmet should be necessary though. It can make such a difference and like the other guy said a helmet could have saved that kids life.
I was always against helmets, and even when it was a law, I never wore mine, but I'm completely in favor of it being a law now that I'm older. One of my friends was riding to another kid's house to go swimming, his towel got caught in the spokes, he went over the handlebars and was in a coma for 3 weeks. He is a completely different person now.. negative about almost everything, snippy, his fuse is short... he really lost something in that accident. A helmet would have saved so much.

That being said, there's a lot lacking in childhood these days. I would've loved to live back before video games so kids would go do stuff. Banning stuff like this, while saving bumps and scrapes, is only making video games look that much better. That's not healthy.

And to the response that "they still have PE blocks" or whatever.. in my school, we didn't have recess, all we had was gym, and all we played were these games. We actually played a game with a beanbag tied to a roap and you had to dodge it as it was swung around. I garauntee that's gone. Versions of tag and dodgeball made up 2/3rds of my elementary school games in gym class. Now they actually sit and take tests on physical education in my district, yet they can't get up and play games. So you can LEARN about being in shape, they just won't push you to BE in shape. It's ridiculous. If you baby someone from day one, they never advance past that. A kid running and bumping his knee is going to learn to tough it out and move past it.

[I am all talk]

I was always against helmets, and even when it was a law, I never wore mine, but I'm completely in favor of it being a law now that I'm older. One of my friends was riding to another kid's house to go swimming, his towel got caught in the spokes, he went over the handlebars and was in a coma for 3 weeks. He is a completely different person now.. negative about almost everything, snippy, his fuse is short... he really lost something in that accident. A helmet would have saved so much.

That being said, there's a lot lacking in childhood these days. I would've loved to live back before video games so kids would go do stuff. Banning stuff like this, while saving bumps and scrapes, is only making video games look that much better. That's not healthy.

And to the response that "they still have PE blocks" or whatever.. in my school, we didn't have recess, all we had was gym, and all we played were these games. We actually played a game with a beanbag tied to a roap and you had to dodge it as it was swung around. I garauntee that's gone. Versions of tag and dodgeball made up 2/3rds of my elementary school games in gym class. Now they actually sit and take tests on physical education in my district, yet they can't get up and play games. So you can LEARN about being in shape, they just won't push you to BE in shape. It's ridiculous. If you baby someone from day one, they never advance past that. A kid running and bumping his knee is going to learn to tough it out and move past it.
You said it all. I hated wearing my helmet because I thought it was lame but my parents made me and I am glad they did. Kids try too many risky things and usually aren't coordinated enough to fall safely. There is no way to improve their ability to fall and you can't stop children from being dangerous and trying stupid things so the only option is to try and protect them with helmets and in certain situations pads.

[aeternum vale]

I never wore my helmet/elbow pads/whatever when I rode my bike when I was a little kid. If I fell off my bike and scraped up my knee or anything I got back on and rode home to clean it up. Now that I look back on it I guess it was kind of stupid, but it's not like I would ride really fast on road where cars drove really fast. I was always smart about that.

[Ralph Wiggum]

We played football during recess everyday when I was in elementary school. We had kids break bones and get stitches but life went on. Tag seems like a completely tame game compared to what we played even in my gym class. This is totally bullshit. Seems like all teachers and principals do theses days is lock the kids inside, have them pop 3 Ritalin, and give them a lecture on playing nice.
And get a load of this garbage. http://www.mb.com.ph/archive_pages.php?url=http://www.mb.com.ph/issues/2006/07/13/HLTH2006071368912.html. now we are worried about even telling kids they are fat? calling someone obese when they actaully are is "too mean"? Give me a break

[Rock]

i could take both sides on this.
if you take the banning of contact sports and tag side, then you're a pussy too.

[x togepi x]

i like it how children are simulatenously becoming more violent and more "pussy" in the eyes of the media.

[FScott]

kinda like the conservatives who want to ban violent violent video games

[xvszero]

Actually it is the liberals like Hillary Clinton that try to ban video games. Or in Illinois Rod Blagojevich.
Nice try though.

As for the topic, you know what? A broken bone isn't the end of the world.

[FScott]

single and 27 years old chatting on a message board is the end of the world.

[xvszero]

I think that was an attempt at an insult of some sort?

But it makes no sense.

[FScott]

nothing ever does when you're in denial up to your eyeballs!

[xvszero]

I don't get it though. 27 year olds use the Internet.

Sort of everyone does. It's this big revolution in communication, haven't you heard?

[FScott]

Oh don't let me upset you. I'm sure you're just like every other 27 year old revolutionary of communications.

[justinevans]

Oh don't let me upset you. I'm sure you're just like every other 27 year old revolutionary of communications.

hahah okay trend follower.

[vandalsandquinn]

haha kids are supposed to run into eachother and get hurt at recess

[FScott]

hahah okay trend follower.

looks like someone hit you in the face with a hammer

[GRIFFARD]

haha kids are supposed to run into eachother and get hurt at recess
i think someone getting hurt is half the fun. normal games of tag and such get boring with no casualties

[fifi_lykewhoa]

All I can say is WTF. Kids are going to be kids.

Yupp, lets sit back and watch America be the land of the fat kids. Oh, thats right; it already is.

[heyRomanticA__x]

Haha, once while playing red rover ( I was the one called over) I flipped over my two friends arms. I ended up having to go to the hospital with a concussion. This happened about 3 months ago, during the school day. How old am I?? 17!! Just as long as the kids aren't too rough with each other and they have propper adult supervision.

[x togepi x]

Actually it is the liberals like Hillary Clinton that try to ban video games. Or in Illinois Rod Blagojevich.
Nice try though.

As for the topic, you know what? A broken bone isn't the end of the world.
Hillary Clinton is not a liberal. the liberal position on censorship is adamantely against.

[CROMagnon]

How else are kids going to learn how to clamp off a severed artery or field dress a gunshot wound?
valuable skills, friend

[justinevans]

Hillary Clinton is not a liberal.

She is 99.7% liberal - except for this one thing I suppose.

[x togepi x]

You're saying Hillary Clinton is liberal because of her last name, but she's trying to be a moderate. She's like the untrustworthy John McCain of democrats.

[justinevans]

You're saying Hillary Clinton is liberal because of her last name, but she's trying to be a moderate. She's like the untrustworthy John McCain of democrats.

no because of her voting records.

Her and Kerry were #1 and #2 for most liberal voters.

[justinevans]

You're saying Hillary Clinton is liberal because of her last name, but she's trying to be a moderate. She's like the untrustworthy John McCain of democrats.

however I have heard she does stab people in the back, but she votes like a liberal.

[x togepi x]

It seems to me she's just trying to vote whatever she thinks will get her votes. She wants to go to the right, but wants to get liberal votes too. That's why I say she's lame and not a liberal. Which isn't to say that there aren't lame liberals, I'd say most democrats fit that category.

[xvszero]

Hillary Clinton is not a liberal. the liberal position on censorship is adamantely against.

There is no specific position on anything from anyone, its all politics. In theory conservatives are for as little government control as possible, but we all know that isn't the way it works in reality. The fact is though, as any hardcore gamer knows, it is almost always the liberal politicians bringing the anti-gaming legistature up. No clue why this is, but its a fact. Conservative politicians are too busy trying to ban abortion and gay marraige to worry about video games.

Actually, since most video games under fire are gun games and conservatives are generally pro-gun, that might be part of it too. It'd look kind of strange to take a hard stance against video games for being so steeped in gun violence to the point of legislation against them but then not be willing to legislate against actual guns.