Greedy Trial Lawyer
Let's Bring Back The Good Old Days On Our School Playgrounds
Category: My Greedy Roots
More and more elementary schools are banning the game of tag from playgrounds. Why? To prevent accidents (read: lawsuits) and to keep kids' self-esteem intact. But if physical harm and psychological harassment can be hidden in a simple game of tag, surely educational experts must be on alert for other forms of abusive playground games.
This is the premise of a fantasy trip by The Christian Science Monitor in a recent article focusing on education (read: lawyer-bashing). The article is a studied (read: childish) analysis of the efforts to make school playgrounds safer and more supportive of each child's emotional growth.
Schools are banning tag. What's next: musical chairs?
The next to go, of course, would have to be duck-duck-goose. Frankly, I'm surprised it is still being played, what with the running around chairs and the touching of people's hair. And what about the hazards of running around a circle of chairs? Children could trip and get seriously injured or, at the very least, get their feelings hurt.Musical chairs? Outta here. Talk about exclusionary. Scrambling for a seat is not only dangerous, it implies competition which, as we all know, is not what American schools are about.
Hopscotch? Are you kidding? Throwing stones? Forget it. Seesaw? Come on. I still have a bruised tailbone from the third grade. Monkey bars? If I climb, is the school district calling me a monkey? Swings? Ever see how high these kids go?
If we ban tag, we are sending the wrong message: "Kids, we live in fear. We are afraid that your game may cause injuries. We are afraid that some children are being chased more than others, and that this game is a form of bullying. But we are mostly afraid of the price tag of lawsuits."
It's vital to let kids be kids - in an environment free from fear. Letting them chase one another in a game of tag may prevent problems down the road. Children who aren't afraid of a skinned knee or a bruised ego or of being tagged "it" are more likely to chase rainbows as adolescents, and dreams as young adults. They're the ones who won't be afraid of going for "it" in life.
During my childhood we carried pocket knives to school and tossed them at the feet of our playmates to see who could get the closest; we played pickup baseball (read: really hard ball); we played tackle football without pads or helmets; we played dodge ball until only one nimble classmate was left standing. Those were the good old days - they made me the Greedy Trial Lawyer that I am.
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