Thu Aug 30, 7:44 AM ET
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - An elementary school has banned tag on its playground after some children complained they were harassed or chased against their will.
"It causes a lot of conflict on the playground," said Cindy Fesgen, assistant principal of the Discovery Canyon Campus school.
Running games are still allowed as long as students don't chase each other, she said.
Fesgen said two parents complained to her about the ban but most parents and children didn't object.
In 2005, two elementary schools in the nearby Falcon School District did away with tag and similar games in favor of alternatives with less physical contact. School officials said the move encouraged more students to play games and helped reduce playground squabbles.
These things just baffle and to be honest kind of anger me. Here are a few more headlines/links from googling "school bans."
School Bans Talking at Lunch
School bans pigs stories
School Bans Hugging
Catholic School Bans Pro-life Speaker
School bans 'wrong race' hairstyle
School bans Christmas,but OK with Halloween
High school bans blogging
Va. middle school bans touching
School bans girl's 'virgin' ring
School bans Mother's Day cards
School Bans Sack Lunches, Baked Goods
Plano school bans Christmas Colors
L.I. School Bans Deaf Boy's 'Helper' Dog
Ok, that's all I have the patience to look up. I can see a kid complaining from something tag related. If someone is picking on you I guess it is natural and acceptable to complain. But I have a problem with parents complaining to teachers about tag related problems as well as schools solving these problems by banning tag. If someone were getting picked on during math class would it make sense to just ban math? Of course not. Although it might sound harsh to some, sometimes parents just need to tell their kids to get over it. Getting picked on or whatever is part of being in elementary, middle and high school (life in general I guess). Learning to handle it when they're young will just make it easier to handle when they are an adult and there is no authority figure to turn to...because it will still happen. If you start whining about it it will just get worse.
Well, there are tons of pages that came up. In short they mostly deal with T-shirts, ipods, anything related to Christianity, Harry Potter, myspace and more than a few dealing with what kind of food kids can bring in.
I remember my dad talking about how when he was a kid everyone played with knives at recess.
3 comments:
"Fesgen said two parents complained to her about the ban but most parents and children didn't object."
That's the saddest part of the story.
I agree. It really should have went something like this:
kid: I don't like tag because (whatever reason.)
teacher: maybe you should play (wahtever game.)
kid: ok
OK, so I guess that the teacher may have hit a roadblock when trying to think up something to play that is less violent than tag.
"Learning to handle it when they're young will just make it easier to handle when they are an adult and there is no authority figure to turn to..."
That's not true - you can always run to your lawyer, or even the US government. Seriously, I miss natural selection when the strongest of us would ban together and eat these people.
Post a Comment