Taking the fun out of recess

by **Brent Burns** on Wed Oct 18, 2006 9:49 am

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061018/ap_on_fe_st/playground_tag_ban

An elementary school in Attleboro, MA just declared that tag, touch football, and other unsupervised chase games are banned because of the concerns that the school may be held liable.

To me, that is taking the fun out of recess. What do you make out of this? You know, these kids will find other ways to entertain themselves.
I can't imagine those kids sitting down looking bored and becoming antsy or fidgety to do something.

**Sponsor**

by **Beta** on Wed Oct 18, 2006 10:10 am

Next they'll have to play games where there is no winner/loser so no one's feelings get hurt.

by **Sonny** on Wed Oct 18, 2006 10:28 am

*Chuckle*

Laughing in the direction of Attleboro, Mass.....

by **Zeuslax** on Wed Oct 18, 2006 10:57 am

We need a common sense revolution ASAP!!!

by **Tim Whitehead** on Wed Oct 18, 2006 11:25 am

Sonny, would you call this your "OUTRAGE OF THE DAY"?

by **cjwilhelmi** on Wed Oct 18, 2006 11:27 am

Beta wrote:Next they'll have to play games where there is no winner/loser so no one's feelings get hurt.

And everyone will get an award and a cookie.

by **ZagGrad** on Wed Oct 18, 2006 11:33 am

Next they'll have to play games where there is no winner/loser so no one's feelings get hurt.

I had to adhere to this during my days as a parks and rec. coordinator. We never had captains to pick the kids and had to split them up counting 1, 2, 1, 2. Then, when the game was at a "high point," we had to call it over with no particular team winning. It worked out pretty well. :wink:

Recess was my favorite subject in grade school with an emphasis in touch football and smear the...well, you know. Ah...good times. I don't know how kids cope now days.

by **Campbell** on Wed Oct 18, 2006 2:43 pm

didnt some towns in Massachusetts ban jumping in puddles and ice cream trucks?

by **Beta** on Wed Oct 18, 2006 2:56 pm

Campbell wrote:didnt some towns in Massachusetts ban jumping in puddles and ice cream trucks?

Dont forget sunshine...and puppies.

by **Brent Burns** on Wed Oct 18, 2006 3:00 pm

This has nothing to do with recess, but it is still related to the idea of banning anything.

I recalled living in Marlborough, MA for several years, and one time, they HAD to ban silly string where the kids would spray them on the fire trucks and police cars. At first, it did not bother those departments; however, the next year, it became a problem because it would cost them a lot of money to waste water to clean their vehicles because of the silly string stuff.

by **Sonny** on Wed Oct 18, 2006 3:15 pm

Do you really need to ban silly string? How about enforcing existing laws and forcing the cost of the cleanup on those who committed the crime?

by **Jolly Roger** on Wed Oct 18, 2006 3:16 pm

In addition to the clean-up issues, silly string and a lighter = cheap nepalm :twisted:

by **DanGenck** on Wed Oct 18, 2006 4:57 pm

You all would be amazed at the amount of liability issues we have to consider at schools. While banning tag is both bogus and sad, I have to say that we talk about many of the same issues and how they harm/help our students.

by **UofMLaxGoalie11** on Wed Oct 18, 2006 9:02 pm

I think this is one step closer to creating what Arrested Development (a great show) called "gradeless, structureless, new age feel-gooderies." Isn't tag a great way to excercise? I mean, what better motivation to run than to avoid being "it"? Why cant we go back to the days where if you got hurt, you sucked it up and had your mom kiss your wounds instead of getting the lawyer on the phone? Im sick of people and lawyers looking to make a quick buck. Its ruining the world for the rest of us.

by **Hackalicious** on Wed Oct 18, 2006 11:32 pm

UofMLaxGoalie11 wrote:I think this is one step closer to creating what Arrested Development (a great show) called "gradeless, structureless, new age feel-gooderies." Isn't tag a great way to excercise? I mean, what better motivation to run than to avoid being "it"? Why cant we go back to the days where if you got hurt, you sucked it up and had your mom kiss your wounds instead of getting the lawyer on the phone? Im sick of people and lawyers looking to make a quick buck. Its ruining the world for the rest of us.

I bet there was an egregious case where a school was negligent, wasn't monitoring the kids, and someone got really hurt.

But to ban it outright is retarded.

Why can't they just get parents to sign waivers, cap damages, and agree to mediation or something? It works for every youth sports league in the country. Why can't schools do it?

If you don't want to waive your right to sue, fine. Your kid can go to the library.