schools ban games at recess

[tinkerlion]

saw this article today about schools banning games from school recess. (http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-06-26-recess-bans_x.htm)

i have to say, we've gone crazy with keeping our kids safe these days. one of the best parts of school was playing games like red rover, tag, dodge ball, and anything else that was active and rough. they're kids for gods sake! let them play. kids are going to fall down and fight and hurt themselves. it's part of growing up. hell, when one of my friends hit me when i was about 6 or 7 i was told to go hit them back! i never wore a helmet when i was on my bike. only had one serious accident. didn't kill me, and i sure as hell knew to really watch out for cars after that. it seems like some people want to keep kids safe from harm at the expense of their childhood fun.

i'm not saying all safety precautions are wrong, but i don't want to wrap my kid in bubble wrap before i send them out the door.

let's not inhibit natural selection from doing it's thing.



ahh, i'm just fired up again, feel free to ignore my rantings.

[greengirlie]

Tink--- I totally agree with you. This is getting out of hand!!! LEwt the kids play their games. By the time I have kids... All games will probably be banned at this rate.


I never wore a helmet either... I did flip over my handle bars of my bike one time... but luckily only got a permanent scar on my leg... I dont know if i will even make my kids wear their helmets...

[the duke]

yeah that's it...lets just wrap them in bubble wrap...my uncle and aunt did that to two of my cousins...and they're afraid of animals and all they do is watch tv...ridiculous!


Yeah, I think i wore a helmet, but i still played in the street and god, we played rough at school...

[luke]

When I was at school they banned us from playing games the basically ended up every time with someone getting comically hurt, but we all just kept playing them in protest and they stopped caring. Part of it's the new health and saftey madness and part of it is that some people will grab at any opportunity to sue coz their child hurt their leg on a bench that didn't meet some stupid saftey regulation. Those people just need to be told thats life, get on with it.

[Jaykob]

Oh man Tink, I couldn't agree with you more! I'm a teacher and those kids love to play those games! Unfortunatly, not all parents are the same...if their kid gets hurt the school is liable, which means it's our ass if the kid gets hurt. Luke, you're right about the sueing thing. I know, it's stupid and really pisses me off. When I'm on recess duty a lot slides.

[Barefoot2Dream]

My skittle starts Kindergarten in August and I am already completely blown away. Schools worry about our childrens' welfare so much that they can ban games & cancel recess & PE for fear of bumping into one another, broken bones and hurt feeleings ~ yet ~they expect children as young a 5 years old to be able to administer their own epi pens, asmtha meds and count carbs to inject their own insulin. I don't get it. smileys/smiley7.gif


Maybe I am just more sensitive to this crap because of my son's situation but I can't understand how it's ok forschools not to assistwith life saving necessities that some children require and then completely go to extremes to avoid normal childhood accidents by banning playtime.

[sauce.baby]

and</span> "they" have the gall to bitch so much about how overweight america's youth is nowadays..

[yes, a good chunk is the parent's fault, but still]

[Barefoot2Dream]

[yes, a good chunk is the parent's fault, but still]



Intentional pun? smileys/smiley17.gifEither way it made me giggle.

[tinkerlion]

My skittle starts Kindergarten in August and I am already completely blown away. Schools </font></font>worry about our childrens' welfare so much that they can ban games &amp; cancel recess &amp; PE for fear of bumping into one another, broken bones and hurt feeleings ~ yet ~they expect children as young a 5 years old to be able to administer their own epi pens, asmtha meds and count carbs to inject their own insulin. I don't get it. smileys/smiley7.gif</font></font>


that's absurd. it's because people can sue at the drop of a hat. the worlds never been the same since that moron spilt coffee on their lap at mcdonalds.

[luke]

Yeah, there's so many laws and loopholes people will just go for it on any petty matter. They should write a law that enforces people to be more campasionate and less selfish, coz sueing schools really helps! :P

[ben04]

Okay, part of the problem is kids never learn how to play with one another. It sounds stupid, but they need a little modeling. Kids are spending too much time watching tv and playing video games, they are not going out an playing with kids in the neighborhood. Then if kids are involved in sports it is so structured adults are telling them exactly what to do. That ispart of the reasonkids have a tough time working out issues by themselves when it gets to school and recess.


I just spent a week in a workshop and everyday we learned new games to teach kids to play during recess. It must have been pretty entertaining to drive by and see 150 adults playing toilet tag.


Also on a complete side note. One of the teachers that was also in the workshop is from Texas. She informed us all that in the Houston area schools the kids also no longer have phy-ed. So where are these kids going to get any physical activity??

[tinkerlion]

that was one of the points i talked about with my husband last night. kids need to learn good sportsmanship. playing is the easiest way to do it.

no phys-ed at all?! that's crazy.

hell, we did archery when i was in middle school. i freakin' loved it, and we never had an injury before or during my time.

[the duke]

our govt is trying to cut out phys ed in schools too...they're saying that teachers aren't spending enough time teaching the curriculum and that they need to add more to it (like it's not like teachers do enough already!!!!)


And yes, Sauce made a good point, no wonder 30% of children are obese..because they don't go out and exercise!!! Yes, it is the fault of the parents, but the schools should do something about it rather than just banning junk food in schools (which is a good idea) you need to back it up with exercise...because as most dietitans say, you need good diet and exercise to lose and maintain a healthy weight...


ugh! it makes me SO angry...and also less inclined to have children because of the way the world may become by the time I have them in 5-10 years....

[ben04]

The reality is teachers aren't teaching enough curriculum because the goverment has too many mandated standardized tests! We have to spend so much time teaching them how to take it and so on. I bet in all last year I spend a month or month and a half preparing kids for these test and then then taking them. So I guess now the kids have to suffer and lose the thinks they look forward to most. Recess and phy-ed. I wish these "goverment officials" could spend a week in a teachers world. They would get a whole new prospective.

[ramble on rose]

wow this is crazy. I certinly hope this doesn't happen here. my little one is also starting kindergarden in the fall. We try to get out as much as we can, but as a parent of a school aged child I also will count on them to give my child exercise. We are in a neighborhood with not alot of kids her age to play with, so we try to get to the park as much as possible, but she too has her lazy video game days.


So I am looking forward to school to get her back into playing and socializing with her peers. So if they ban games at school then what? I guess they can roll there fat asses over to another kid and talk? That is crap. I am 27 and went my whole life playing rough with no helmet or knee pads and never broke a thing.

[Barefoot2Dream]

I broke lots of bones growing up, suffered tons of skinned knees and stubbed toes. Have all the scars to prove it &amp; with each one I hold a fond memory &amp; great story. smileys/smiley2.gifI cannot imagine my boys growing up without the same.A kid without little bruises, scrapes and scratches just isn't playing hard enough in my opinion.


Kidscan learn life concepts through lectures, books, and demonstrations or they can learn them in a way that the lessons remain with them for a lifetime.

[ramble on rose]

good point.like i said nothing broken but I have my childhood scars as welland to this day remember every detail of what happened to give me the scar.

[tinkerlion]

i learned right and left from a scar!

[Jaykob]

I'm so glad to see people actually on the teachers sides! Thank you for the support all!

[the duke]

No worries...teachers aren't appreciated enough by anyone...my dad's one and he gets SO much crap...it's ridiculous...they have to threaten to strike to get a 3% pay rise which is the same as inflation! but don't get me started.


I remember skateboarding as a young'in and fell, scraped my mouth, cheek and knees...lovely...but it's how you learn as a child...bugger this bubble wrap!