Talk about a coincidence. Yesterday, we had a playgroup outing to a local pumpkin patch. Prior to leaving, the kids (all toddlers) were given one last chance to run around an open pasture. One of the older boys (he’s 3-and-a-half) started patting the younger kids (one-and-two-year-olds) on the head and screaming “TAG—YOU’RE IT” before high-tailing it into the other direction. A few minutes later glass shattering wails. Not surprisingly, other kids had joined in this toddler-version of tag and a few slammed into each other–they all ended up in a mass of tired, teary tykes. The scene prompted one of the moms to wonder in jest: “Who knew tag could be so dangerous?”
Then this morning, not 24 hours after our tag fiasco, I happened upon an article about a Boston elementary school, which has just banned kids from playing tag. According to news reports, officials at an elementary school south of Boston 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.
Recess is “a time when accidents can happen,” said Willett Elementary School Principal Gaylene Heppe, who approved the ban.
According to the paper, while there isn’t a district wide ban on contact sports during recess, local rules have been cropping up at individual schools. The ban at the Boston school follows similar bans instituted by school administrators in Cheyenne, Wyoming and Spokane, Washington, which also recently banned tag during recess. Meanwhile, a suburban Charleston, South Carolina school recently outlawed all unsupervised contact sports. In addition, I remember a few years ago several school districts around the country (including the school district in live in) took aim at dodge ball, saying it was “exclusionary and dangerous.”
Since the Boston school ban on tag became effective parents on both sides of the issue have spoken out. Some opponents of the ban maintain playing tag is part of being a kid. One Boston mother told local reporters: “I think that it’s unfortunate that kids’ lives are micromanaged and there are social skills they’ll never develop on their own.” Meanwhile, proponents of the ban say they feel their children are safer because of the rule.
What do you think?