TAG Now Outlawed in Schools … whats next Dodgeball???

That recess right of passage known as “tag” is now being outlawed at Willett Elementary School in Attleboro, MA. What’s next Dodgeball? Woops that’s right it was already banned, too exclusionary and dangerous. Now “tag” is being deemed to dangerous that it will cause injury or the dreaded liability that the school will meet in a lawsuit. We are not talking laser tag, just simply school ground tag. Where does the madness end?

LET KIDS BE KIDS … THIS IS A PART OF GROWING UP.

Do you realize what you are going to create if children are not allowed to experience set backs and think everything in life is easy? Just remember, if you can dodge a wrench and traffic, you can dodge a ball. Also, tag never hurt anyone except providing healthy,clean fun and exercise. No wonder we are experiencing child obesity these day, children are not allowed to do anything athletic that may cause harm.

So is touch football and any other unsupervised “chasing” games that are deemed to pose the risk of injury as well as liability to the school.

“It’s a time when accidents can happen,” said Principal Gaylene Heppe, in her second year at the helm of Willett.

Heppe included the new rule as part of a standardized set of playground rules that were not in play upon her arrival.

In doing so, she joined in a growing movement against traditional games played by young children in school gymnasiums and playgrounds. (The Sun Chronicle)

What ever happened to kids just being kids? What every happened to the common sense approach that games and sports help in the development of a child? Instead foolish, over sensitized adults think that all activities that could remotely cause physical or emotional harm are deemed dangerous. Earth to school administrators, sometimes we need learning experiences to help us for situations that children may face later on in life.

“Playing tag is just part of being a kid,” she said. “Now, for children not to be able to make those decisions by themselves without interference from adults doesn’t give them the opportunity to make their own choices.”

Games like tag give children “social skills that transfer to later in life,” she said.

Parent Christine McAndrews agreed.

“I think it’s a little bit silly,” she said, adding that she was not aware the rule was in place. “The kids love to play pick-up football games that they organize themselves. It’s great for their social skills and they resolve things on their own. It’s good for them.”

“It’s part of being a kid,” she said.

Not it! Mass. elementary school bans tag

What a joke.

Recess is “a time when accidents can happen,” said Willett Elementary School Principal Gaylene Heppe, who approved the ban. (Yahoo News)