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Playing tag is no longer a benign sport
Filed under: Activities: Babies, In The News
There have been frequent reports in the media of schools banning the game of "tag" at recess, and now there's yet another elementary school who has blown the whistle on the classic schoolyard game.Kent Gardens Elementary school in Virginia has decreed that students may no longer play tag after deciding that the game of chasing and yelling had "gotten out of hand." The school's principal explained to concerned parents that tag had become a very aggressive, dangerous game -- and that the well-being of children was at stake while engaged in it.
Many parents of young children remember tag as being a benign game of running and adrenaline - an innocent rite of passage for many young folk who needed fresh air and exercise to thrive at school. But modern tag, say many modern school administrators, is not nearly so innocent.
Kent Garden's principal calls the new, more aggressive game "noveau tag" and says that the play now involves kids who may not know they are playing -- that kids "pyramid" and "tower" and pile on each other -- sometimes dubbing the act "jailhouse" because a child is forced to break free of an unwanted hold.
Concerned parents congregated at the school to hear more about the ban, many of them expressing dismay that prohibiting tag "robs the children" of a special, unique childhood experience.
I know that aggression shouldn't be encouraged in children. But I can't help but think that banning normal childhood activities is just a little bit sad.
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ReaderComments (Page 4 of 7)
4-19-2008 @ 10:26PM
The Ween said...To some of you who are blaming liberals. It isn't their fault. It's mostly the parents and lawyers fault for all the lawsuits going on. And as for prayer being banned, blame that on our open society and all the different religions that are now in our public school systems. What are the schools supposed to do?
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4-19-2008 @ 10:29PM
william giiligan said...At my children's school, there is a big sign outside the gym that says "If you had fun, you won", which I find a bit confusing. If you won, you won. If you had fun, you had fun. Actually, winning IS fun. Losing is not fun- so at least TRY to win.
What's wrong with TRYING to win? Are we going to change the grading system so everyone gets a 'C', so nobody gets their feelings hurt?
And we wonder why China is beating the tar out of us....
I bet they don't tell their kids that basically, you shouldn't try to win. Pathetic. And no, they can't play tag at this school either.........
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4-19-2008 @ 10:39PM
rtrrocket said...More idiotic paranoia. When do kids get to be kids?
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4-19-2008 @ 10:43PM
rtrrocket said...Yes. Keep tag and ban some video game babysitting, or how about banning pre-school, so a kid can get to be a kid.
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5-16-2008 @ 2:00PM
priscilla said...Tag, dodge ball, chutes & ladders. A friend told me that there were no mistakes in life only lessons. How in the world can the children of today learn these lessons. If you can not play the game. How will we learn the lessons of life.
A skinned knee with a hug from a teacher that says it will be alright. Some lessons in life need to be learned so we can all understand. Life should not be covered by a large umbrella, may be a band aid can help. Live, experience, learn, some times you just don't win. Do we take away the game of chess, checkers, chinese checkers, scrabble, life- someone wins and someone looses and sometimes it is a draw -but it is okay, it is what makes the world go around, it is what makes us stronger, it is how we learn, it is what makes us want to learn more, or maybe just learn. For heavens sake - let it be, let us be, let us learn, let us understand, let us care for others.
Priscilla
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4-19-2008 @ 11:16PM
BRANDY said...I THINK THAT BANNING TAG ALL TOGETHER IS RIDICUILOUS. I HAVE TWO SCHOOL AGED CHILDREN AND TWO MORE SOON TO FOLLOW THEM AND I WANT ALL MY CHILDREN TO HAVE WONDERFUL EXPERIENCES AS CHILDREN. I GUESS THANK GOODNESS THEY ATTEND A VERY SMALL SCHOOL DISTRICT AND HOPEFULLY THOSE BIG CITY RULES WILL STAY ON THIER SIDE OF THE FENCE. I MEAN COME ON LETS GIVE KIDS A CHANCE TO GROW UP IN A HALF NORMAL WORLD WHILE WE STILL CAN!
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4-20-2008 @ 11:34AM
Paula said...Well Well Well, here we go again. Another piece of our freedom being taken away from us in this country. Next they will be saying Duck Duck Goose not allowed because there again a child has to run and tag. No different than playing tag. How many more of our freedom and rights will be pulled out from under us. Some of these people need who are behind this need to get a " LIFE ".
Oh, then it will be the musical chairs game that I remember playing when I was a child. 40 some odd years ago.
Let our children enjoy them selves during recess!!
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4-19-2008 @ 11:09PM
Robbo said...One more fine example of zero-tolerance. Did anyone ever figure out that taking away everything that kids like to do only makes them unsociable, they turn to violent video games......... until they get bored with that....then they bring a firearm to school for the REAL thrill. I think a game of tag is healthier. And, if some kids get out of control with it....correct them...and if they continue..punish them (duh).
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4-19-2008 @ 11:11PM
TG said...It is the American parent that ruines the childrren's game's.
Suing
Cuddling
touchy feeely parent's
pampered kid's
My kid is right at all cost
enough said
Parents ruined the kids life , Not the school's
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4-19-2008 @ 11:18PM
VE said...You go parents of America
You are to blame for all of this
You'r coddling your kids, letting them get agressive and never admitting your kid is wrong.
Its all your doing in my book.
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4-20-2008 @ 9:34AM
kayal said...What is this world coming to? I swear this just amazes me! Let kids be kids! They are making kids grow up way to fast these days, just let them have innocent fun! Forget the over protective moms, they need to stop sucking all of the fun out of elementary school!
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4-19-2008 @ 11:39PM
Thank you Feminism !!! said...THANK YOU FEMINISM...
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4-19-2008 @ 11:38PM
Ricky said...Should be the way it was when i was a kid. every day by nine am I was infront of the class getting a paddle put to me for getting out of hand. the teacher would say licks or no going out to play with the rest of the class I took the licks. kids need to know If you do wrong there is a price to pay and thats the problem today. They do what they want and and dont understand there is somday going to be a heavy price to pay in the real world.
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4-19-2008 @ 11:39PM
Anne said...Some children dont know how to play, but run after each other. One solution would be to teach how to play the game rather than ban the game. Children these days know how to play video games, which can be done together at the same time, but dont know how to take turns. Playing fun board games teaches them how to play with each other, take turns, and only the person who has the turn is touching the dice and markers. So too with tag, teach the rules and expectations of how to do tag, red light green light, and other fun recess "games".
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4-20-2008 @ 12:56AM
Aurora said...These kids cannot play nice at school because their parents never taught them to play nice at home. The people bitching about the school's actions are the same people who would turn around and sue if their child were to be hurt during a game of tag or if a teacher put their hands on their child to break up an obviously unfriendly game of tag.
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4-20-2008 @ 12:27AM
Agent 47 said...this is stupid. it has happened to me too. we had this game called handsoccer in elementery school. there was a court divided in 2. 1 kid was on each side. they had a bouncy ball that they had to hit once on their side and it had to go over the line. there were differents hits called skimmers which went really low on the ground and fast, and babies; which were hits thatwere hit close to the line and very soft. both were difficult to tell if the ball bounces twicce on your side or no times. my last year, our principal outlawed skimmers and babies. everyone stopped playing because those were the best and coolest moves.
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4-20-2008 @ 12:26AM
Agent 47 said...our principal took away our tetherball
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4-20-2008 @ 12:09AM
Tabitha said...I wish that people that think about STUIPD things would have something better to do then to pick on the kids..This are children and i dont think that they should take away a game that it is just PLAIN fun..People GROW UP!!!! I dont think that these people want kids to kno what having fun is, I mean..come on..I wish that people that think that this kids arent learning anything because they want to play..i wouldnt let my daughter think that she couldnt play something because someone else thinks that it is BAD and that there this too much volience going on. I grew up playing this game and i am not gonna let my child sit in the house and not play because people like this is think that it is too dangerous..I couldnt tell me what to do with my daughter. I just hope that everything that it is being said get fixed because this is america...and people these days arent making there children not play outside...21st CENTERY!!!!!!!
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4-20-2008 @ 12:16AM
sal said...It is a shame that childhood games are going the way of the dinosaurs. In life there are winners and there are losers, when a loss is realized, hopefully a desire to do better will follow.
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4-20-2008 @ 12:35AM
ron said...how about kids working after school like i did selling the grit news paper every wensday and the johnson city press 7 days a week hitchhicking to a golf course to caddy 2 rounds of golf those were the good old days
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