Mass. elementary school bans tag

[maestramommy]

Just wondering what y'all think about the loss of this recess institution?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061018/ap_on_fe_st/playground_tag_ban;_ylt=At9Qr9LJVCZvzp0l0C.d5A7MWM 0F;_ylu=X3oDMTA3ODdxdHBhBHNlYwM5NjQ-

[elliput]

"Recess is "a time when accidents can happen," said Willett Elementary School Principal Gaylene Heppe, who approved the ban."

So just cut to the chase- eliminate recess altogether, put the children in padded isolation cells, and call it good.

What a bunch o'crock. Tag is older than the days are long, and is an important game for developing social skills. Accidents happen. I suffered a major case of road rash on my left thigh and bum from playing tag as a kid on the playground. I survived and learned an important lesson- don't play tag in a skirt.

[bostonsmama]

I didn't read the article, but I think that if what they're hoping to avoid are frivolous law suits brought by parents of children injurred in such a game, then the school has every right to protect its valuable monetary resources to make sure the children STILL HAVE funds to pay for recess/P.E., good teachers, textbooks, libraries, computers, field trips, you name it. Let it be a lesson to the dim wits (either parents complaining or families suing) that you either accept that children gets bumps and scrapes doing the most benign of activities or that you have restrictions on common activities such as this. It should say to the teachers and parents, "THIS is the cost of over protectiveness and political correctness."

But really it doesn't bother me too much. There are a hundred and one other equally fun, let-loose, engaging forms of exercise and unstructured play that hopefully the PE and supervising teachers are putting into play.

Just my 2 cents as a former teacher.

L

[Tracey]

Oh, I can top that one! Listen to this...public schools in our area have NO recess. They have 30min of PE everyday and that's it! This is all thanks to No Child Left Behind and having to cram in all of the requirements. Kindergarteners are tested SIX times during the school year. Am I the only one who thinks this is ridiculous? My daughter is going to go to private school where they do not have to abide by these mandates.

[bcky2]

>Am I the only one who thinks this is ridiculous?

nope, you are not alone :)

[MissyAg94]

Honestly, the requirements for NCLB are pretty basic. Sounds like that's just how your district chooses to schedule it's time. Recess was going away long before NCLB. Sad really, as kids are just getting less and less exercise at home and at school.

[SnuggleBuggles]

This is exactly why I am obsessing about the kindergarten choice. After reading that Newsweek article on K becoming the new 1st grade, etc, I have been worried about this lack of play time.

So far I have cisited 2 private schools. One takes the kids outside to play at least 3 times a day- they will them out to play whenever they or the teachers need the break. :) They don't have a strcit schedule so they can accomodate the needs of the individual day. The teachers even do this in older grades too. They said that the kids seem to have more of an attention span if they are given a chance to play or just relax. Yay!

The other private school only has one recess time a day for the kindergarteners. :(

The public school sounds like what you describe with the testing. I;m still going to check them out just because "test" may not really be that big of a deal. We'll see. Things have gotten really crazy out there. yes, I want my son to achieve and be strong academically but I appreciate the role of play in learning. :)

Sorry to hijack!!

Eliminating tag? Absurd.

Beth

[MissyAg94]

That private school sounds like they know a little bit about kids! Maybe if we let kids burn off some energy in recess they wouldn't be so "hyper" during lessons! I just don't remember so many disruptive kids when I was in school. But then again we went to play at least twice per day in elem. school.

[dules]

Weird. That one parent in the article talking about having "witnessed enough near collisions" - sounds like the kids are driving cars instead of running around tagging each other.

[boolady]

Tag is older than the days are long, and
>is an important game for developing social skills. Accidents
>happen. I suffered a major case of road rash on my left thigh
>and bum from playing tag as a kid on the playground. I
>survived and learned an important lesson- don't play tag in a
>skirt.

LOL! My recess lesson learned was that if you're going to roll down a hill over and over again, a skirt is not recommended for that either. I still have a tiny dark spot of blacktop in my knee to prove it, but have never considered myself any worse for the wear.

This is sad. Accidents can happen at recess? They can also happen at just about every other moment of the day...

[kijip]

Yeah, most new school playgrounds lack swings too, because of liability issues. Sucks.

And don't get me started on ending recess and reducing PE. Grrr.

[elliput]

So when is your DC supposed to make an appearance?

[lmintzer]

Didn't read the article, but my ds Jack just broke his arm last week, falling off a slide during a game of tag. He as at the Kindergarten "extended day" program.

And although I wish he would slow down a bit, I would still find it inappropriate to try to stop kids from running and playing. Kids need to do this, and they need recess/outdoor time!

[punkrockmama]

Recess is "a time when accidents can happen," said Willett Elementary School Principal Gaylene Heppe.

Well, DUH. I think that is one of the dumbest quotes I've seen in awhile. You could also maybe twist your wrist wiping your butt, but you need to do it. Accidents can happen everywhere and anytime. Kids *need* to play and run and jump, especially with other kids. And they *need* to learn how to deal with accidents (and other bad stuff) when it happens.

[tarynsmum]

I just heard this on th news here (on the odd time that I was actually watching the news) and when the lead anchor who was 'reading' the story got to the end, he sighed, rolled his eyes (I know that he has a couple kids at home), and then went to the next story. He's usually a very composed, straight-faced newsanchor, so this was hilarious to me

[maestramommy]

You're right, the reason they decided to ban recess was because of frivolous lawsuits. It sound completely asinine to me. People filing suits I mean. Kids get hurt often on the playground, and not just playing tag either. A woman I know expressed this sentiment, although she was talking about herself in the context of birthing at home, "whatever happened to sh*t happens?" And I agree with that to a certain extent, because I don't know why we can't just accept that accidents happen, and it isn't necessarily "someone's" fault.

[mamalou]

This is truely sad.

I volunteer at DS school during recess where there is a lot of tag played. It really is a nice way for the youngest kids to run around and feel like they are playing a game without adult supervision. There are plenty of bumps, bruises, and lessons learned along the way.

[brittone2]

Sorry to hear about Jack's arm! I hope he's handling it okay.

[lmintzer]

Thanks, Beth. He's doing okay now. Last Thursday (when it happened) was a rough day. Poor little guy--he has 3 fractures in his 1 arm. And now a big red cast almost up to his shoulder. But he's not letting it stop him--kids never cease to amaze me with how fast and well they adpat. They put us adults to shame.

[chiqanita]

While on recess duty I've seen children tagged too hard launching them forward and stumbling to regain their footing. Sometimes they fell sometimes they didn't. I would teach the kiddos to use 2 fingers to touch on the shoulder ONLY. It seemed to work. Tag was eventually banned at our school.

[AddiesMom]

I live in Massachusetts.
Let's just say everyday I am one step closer to putting up the "FOR SALE" sign.

[candybomiller]

I don't allow Matt to play tag. In fact, I don't allow him to touch other children at all. I'm just not willing to take the chance that in our litigous society everything dh and I have worked for could be taken away by one frivilous law suit.

[Fairy]

Gotta chime in here. When an accident with injury happens, then premises liability is a completely valid thing to pursue. My DS was injured at daycare recently, and you'd better believe that I will be expecting my out of pocket expenses to be paid. Are these things usually accidents? Yes. Does that mean that the school or location is not responsible? No. Now, there ARE frivolous lawsuits out there, and it is the truly FRIVOLOUS that are ruining it for the valid claims tarnishing the very thought of litigation with this black stain.

The number of people out there who don't understand the law, the reason the law is in place, and what the law should be used for is shocking to me. This particular reactionary policy that's in the article is a perfect example of what is wrong. They're doing a pre-emptive strike by banning tag, so that will cut down on injuries, and then the lawsuits. Well, no, I think what will happen is that the replacement activities will foster their own kinds of injuries -- cuz kids get hurt, it happens -- and so it's six of one half-dozen of the other.

Let them play tag!

Off my soapbox now.

[dogmom]

This is one of those annoying "news" articles that if people took the time to look into it wouldn't be such a big deal. Here is a quote from the Boston Globe:

"The episode prompted the 6,000-student district about 40 miles south of Boston to clarify that only one school, Willett Elementary, has banned tag because the playground is too small, not because school officials are against exercise or fun. THE BAN HAPPENED AT LEAST FIVE YEARS AGO, but hit the spotlight this week after it was reported in a local newspaper." (the capital letters are mine.)

So now the principal has to fend off I don't know how many phone calls from news people, like he's got nothing better to do. So I hardly think it deserves so much air time, well enough moving out of state.

Jeanne
Mom to Harvey
1/16/03
& Eve 6/18/06