School Bans 'Tag'

GillBates0 writes "CNN is carrying a story about a school in Boston which has have banned kids from playing tag, touch football and any other unsupervised chase game during recess for fear they'll get hurt and hold the school liable. According to the article, some elementary schools in other states have similarly banned "unsupervised contact sports". A parent was quoted as saying that her son feels safer now and that she'd witnessed enough 'near collisions.'" See, it's not just dangerous virtual games that are harmful to children!

Attleboro, MA <> Boston, MA

[el_gordo101]

Attleboro, MA is not in Boston as the posting states, it is a small city south of Boston.

Re:WTF?

[steveo777]

Are you referring to Hard Times [schooltales.com]? Dickens was a magnificent author, and was horrified that the government was allowing the schools to take away the ability of a student to make an error. Stuff like the article is what he was writing about. Let kids be kids. Just make sure they know there are consequences to be paid if they intentionally do something that they shouldn't. None of this, "Timmy, if you don't stop pulling your sister's hair I'll count to three and give you a time out." shit.. If the kid knows what he/she is doing is wrong, then he/she can be punished.

    By and far Dickens is my favorite author.

The Underground History Of American Education

[frenchbedroom]

Recommended reading :

"The Underground History Of American Education" by John Taylor Gatto [johntaylorgatto.com]

If you're thinking about homeschooling your children, go read it. The entire book is there, online, for free. (just try not to slashdot it !)

Re:WTF?

[Knuckles]

This is the inevitable result of big government

If you actually correlate government size/responsibilities with overprotection of kids, I think you will come to very different conclusions. (Hint: this stuff happens in the US and never in Europe)

Re:Why home schooling is booming

[mcrbids]

Does this charter school teach real science or 'intelligent design'? Does it teach things the parents would rather not discuss with their children, like sex ed?

Charter schools receive state funds, and so must teach to state standards in education. You can teach the material by any of various means, but it still has to be taught. Follow the money....

The only problem with both home schooling and charter schools is that parents, like everybody else, has their biases and they pass them on to their kids.

But, that happens anyway. You think 1 hour of class, 1 time per day, for 175 days is going to change the bias of 18 years of parental supervision? How many US adults who are graduates of the public education system still believe that womankind started a few thousand years ago when a guy in a white robe pulled out a rib? Heck, how many even believe that men have 1 less rib than women as a result? Ask around - you might be surprised.

We got away from home schooling years ago because it was better to teach if you knew what you were teaching. Not all parents really know their material, nor do all parents teach things that are.. questionable.

We got away from home schooling because of rampant illiteracy. It's a common, well-known statistic that children of college graduates are overwhelmingly more likely to be literate, do well in school, and go to college. So, what has really changed? So long as the option is open to all, and the state provides a good failsafe, then the only way to go is up. Or have you seen the statistics for public education in the USA against other "developed" countries? We're busy blowing it on education.

Such as the age of the universe, the bible is literal truth and intelligent design, blacks are a lesser race or any of hundreds of other biases.

See above. Charter schools are state funded, and must teach to state standards.

I'm not for public education quitting. I'm for parents actually involving themselves in school districts directly and the school districts paying attention.

Then we agree, even though it sounds like we're arguing. The charter schools are exactly a form of what you're talking about, since the school districts et al have generally been glacially slow in responding to the changing workplace. Charter schools are legal school districts, managed by the state, and overseen by state auditors. (At least in California)

Or move to a red state

[Bob 4knee]

We gave up on the east coast and "moved to america" three years ago. The kids here don't have a sense of entitlement, and don't feel like everything is somebody else's fault. The adults think the same way. The government leaves people alone, in general, and the people don't go running to the government or courts for redress when they fall down and skin their knee.

My 8 year old is on an organized football team. Aside from the comic relief provided by a 64 pound (in full gear) defensive end, there are no problems. Kids twist ankles, get bruises, and get their hands stepped on by other kids in cleats. Nobody has been sued yet.

He's also active in cub scouts. We've got lots of rules from the national level that folks out here in America just can't understand. Being a recent transplant, I try to explain some of the rules (e.g. we can't ride on a float in next week's parade, or carpool kids to a campout w/out prior permission, insurance verification, and signed parental permission slips). The people who have lived here their whole life can't believe that a parent would/could sue when a kid falls down and gets hurt. Some of them probably think I'm making stuff up when I tell them the way it is "back east".

Out here it's not a federal case when a kid splits his head open on the monkey bars or sprains something falling off a swing. It's considered part of growing up, and a learning experience. Most of the kids aren't obese, they have chores and sports and other activities. There seems to be a lot more really tough, really old people around here also. Hmmm..

Re:Sheep, Wolves, Sheepdogs

[TnkMkr]

I recommend reading the whole essay, it actually puts it much better than the summary stated in the GF post.
See here:
http://www.blackwaterusa.com/btw2004/articles/0726 sheep.html [blackwaterusa.com]

The sheep dogs, by definition, must police themselves. Is it easy? Of course not, and that is why the world is in the state it currently is.

Although to be fair, it is a statement of ideology and puts everything into a black and white (or sheepdog, wolf, and sheep) classification, which does not always hold up when you compare to the real worlds shades of grey.

While I agree that the analogy from Team America is similar, I think it is a much more pessimistic view of the situation. Not to mention it goes out of its way to be as vulgar and offensive as possible. (but hey... that's funny)

Re:Simple Child Care

[clayanderson]

So let's do what we do best: /. 'em.

Write to the principal who implemented this rule: [e-mail]

And to her boss, the superintendent: [e-mail]

And to anyone else you can find on this page: http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/home.asp?mode=so&ot=5 &o=68&so=70-6 [mass.edu]

Re:Erm...

[Stripsurge]

In my elementary school we had 1 or 2 volunteer parents to walk during our breaks to "watch out for our safety". While we played our game of tackle football we'd always have to keep one eye looking for the parent coming around the corner. The first person to see her would yell something to the effect of "WOW! This sure is a fun game of TOUCH football. Yup. Nothing beats playing TOUCH football on a lovely day like this." There was often one idiot that didn't quite clue in and made a huge tackle in the presence of the parent. Bye-bye football! Fscking D.K. I still hate her to this day. Luckily our principle was cool and would always give the football back at the end of the day. Admitidly there were a lot of injuries, especially to one kid. Just about every day he ended up in a puddle of tears. Playing tackle football at lunch time is one of my best memories from elementary school.

If a kid gets caught playing tag or some other "violent" game what's the worst that could happen? If I got a call from my kids' school saying little Billy was in trouble for playing games I would reward him for not caving to stupid rules. Yes. That's right. I'd teach my child not to follow the laws. He very well could grow up and become that guy you always see J-Walking. Who knows what other new-fangled laws will come into act by the time he grows up.

Re:WTF?

[Tesla Tank]

Sorry to nitpick, but I believe you meant E=(1/2)(mv^2).

Re:Simple Child Care

[Anonymous Coward]

"In fact, it strikes me as simply barbaric to basically say to a child, "sorry, I can't treat your injuries because your parents don't have enough money". How can doctors, who have sworn oaths to help the sick and wounded, live with themselves after turning injured children away?"

In fact, doctors in emergency rooms cannot do this. They are legally required to treat.

It is relatively fiscally-responsible parents
who are worried about being unable to pay the bills that they feel
they owe that forgo emergency treatment. Those
who ignore their debts simply go to the emergency room and never pay.

In the USA, it is not a matter of not being able to get care in emergency. It is a
matter of being unable to get care without having to either pay, go bankrupt, or
deal with collection agencies.