Continuing to destroy childhood...

[Kara]

Ugh.

It's rather sickening how this country has changed since we were kids.

[AFpheonix]

Ok, I can maybe understand not wanting to do Red Rover anymore, just because of the possibility of broken wrists, but tag?

Pussy parents.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Pretty soon recesses and gym classes everywhere will consist entirely of the children putting their heads down on the desks and sleeping for 15 minutes.

Playing tag is good exercise dammit! I bet these same parents will complain if their kids grow up to be obese. Why are we listening to them instead of laughing at them?

I played tag lots of times on the playground. Sometimes it really sucked to be "it" because I couldn't always run as fast as the other children, but I turned out okay!

[Ryu]

I know a lot of places ban dodgeball
My college is starting to get a dodgeball club going, several girls(only relevant in that they may sustain more damage from that type of activity than guys, possibly) got hit in the head by dodgeballs thrown by guys
Guess what, they survived! They had no effects other than a short term shock/maybe some pain and kept playing!!!

[DGoddessChardonnay]

I know a lot of places ban dodgeball
My college is starting to get a dodgeball club going, several girls(only relevant in that they may sustain more damage from that type of activity than guys, possibly) got hit in the head by dodgeballs thrown by guys
Guess what, they survived! They had no effects other than a short term shock/maybe some pain and kept playing!!!

Too bad it wasn't banned when I was in elementary school.

Frankly, I didn't care much for anything that involved contact with other people. Didn't matter if it was during recess or group projects.

When I was in 5th grade, our teacher tried to make us play dodgeball 3 days a week at recess. I was always the last one picked (more like the one nobody wanted.)

So, after trying to play it a time or two, I just basically went and sat on the hill overlooking everyone else and daydreamed while the rest of the class played. The teacher tried to say something to me about it, but I really didn't care. I wasn't athletically inclined to begin with, nor did I care for hanging out with others who picked on me all day anyways.

Then, of course, my mom got a call from the teacher about it. Mom basically told her the same thing I did (and God only knows what else.) But I never heard a peep out of the teacher about it anymore and I would just basically sit out and "zone out" while everyone else followed the herd, so to speak.

I was an odd child.

[Soulstealer]

Guess what, they survived! They had no effects other than a short term shock/maybe some pain and kept playing!!!

Exactly, I've played tag and all that other stuff since entering the public education system. You occasionally fall down and scrape a knee, even if I had broken something I'd have continued playing.

[Ringtail Z28]

And we wonder why kids are such fatass pussies these days.

[tacohuman]

my school banned dodgeball after i was hit in the head and knocked unconscious.

[Ree]

Mom basically told her the same thing I did (and God only knows what else.) But I never heard a peep out of the teacher about it anymore and I would just basically sit out and "zone out" while everyone else followed the herd, so to speak.

But, really DGoddess, your mother didn't demand a ban on all games that required the selection of teams, so that those ignored or picked last would not have their feelings hurt.

She didn't demand a ban on contact games, because her child wasn't athletically inclined, and therefore, couldn't fully participate, and as a result, suffered self esteem issues.

She didn't demand the banning of contact games because of the risk that someone might fall and get a bump or bruise.

She simply told the teacher to quit bugging you about it.

You found a way to cope with the fact that you didn't care for those games, and weren't very good at them.

You sat and daydreamed.
I have a very strong hunch that, because of your solitude and daydreaming, you developed a very good imagination, are probably very creative, and probably have a love of reading. (I could be wrong, though.)

There is too much of a tendency to wrap the world in a little plastic bubble to prevent anyone having their feelings hurt, or from getting hurt.

Instead of allowing people to learn for themselves, and develop skills to compensate, society has forced this overly PC, overly touchy-feely, feel-good aspect onto others.

While I don't think children should be encouraged to hurt and maim each other, I also don't think they should have every negative aspect anticipated for them, and then removed from their sight.

I think that attitude spills over into other areas of their lives. I am currently working with a generation of young people who feel they shouldn't have to do anything unpleasant at work, and their entire working day should be nothing but a bed of roses.
They get frustrated at the first sign of problems and just walk away from it, rather than trying to find a way to work through it.

I think these games are an important part of a child's life, and they learn some very important life skills through simple play.

[DarthRetard]

I was the exact opposite. I always wanted to be a part of it, and though I have some individuality now, it wouldn't have even developed had i not been beaten up and picked on in middle school.

All it taught me was that I have to learn to fight back to establish my role and show my amount of dominance and self-worth. Only person I ever complained to was the principal, who on several occasions let them do it in front of him and never stopped them.

I'm not saying abuse and stuff should ever be encouraged, but, in real life, you have to deal with assholes, unfair rules, unfair treatment, and other bad, naughty goblin-ish things. (re-read some harry potter the other night.)

I remember one year I tried out for the lacrosse team. Now, everyone knew I was good, I even scored 7 goals myself in the scrimmage. Maybe they felt threatened...but when we went to the locker room, I got ambushed without pads on by about 10 guys with lacrosse sticks. NOw, those things aren't made of nerf, so they sting quite a bit. I didn't complain to anyone, not even the coach. I grit my teeth, and fought back is what happened.

Those years of school are meant for children to develop naturally, and if we keep interfering(did I spell that right? I'm sick I can't tell....)They won't see a natural development, they'll see a nurtured bunch of soft shells that won't be able to cope in the real world.

Thus ending my theory on how Dodgeball prevented the cold war.

[Pedersen]

I was the exact opposite. I always wanted to be a part of it, and though I have some individuality now, it wouldn't have even developed had i not been beaten up and picked on in middle school.

I have to disagree here. Some children are incapable of defending themselves in any meaningful fashion. Check http://www.ravendays.org/voices.html for plenty of examples (including my own). I seem to recall at least one other thread on this forum discussing this very issue.

When these children are pushed and pushed and pushed further out of the mainstream, and offered no protection by those in authority, bad things can (and do) happen. Quite a few of those affected go the route of suicide. Others put up walls and defenses that would make a general envious. Still others go the route of inflicting massive pain on others before killing themselves.

As a society, we owe it to ourselves and those children to try to protect them until they can defend themselves. Some of them will never be able to, but many of them just need more time. Sometimes they just need a different environment.

That having been said: I do not agree with banning tag. But I do agree with allowing students to sit out, and enforcing that they can be left alone if that is what they wish. Schools rarely look to protect those who are forced to attend, allowing some major travesties to come about. If they would just enforce their rules uniformly, I think things would improve dramatically.

Anyway, that's my two cents.

[DarthRetard]

No, pedersen, you're definitely right. It's not a 100% thing by far. It was how I reacted because I was always an inwardly aggressive and passionate person from the beginning, and once I discovered punk music (Thanks Sid Vicious!) I realized I didn't have to take it. I could fight back. I do think everyone has it in them to fight back, it's a part of being human. Some people need help though.

[powerboy]

They should not ban tag.

When I was in school, I would get the scrapes and bruises along with everyone else. We never complained about it. If I got picked last, it didn't bother me. I learned to fight back. Only got into 3 fights all together, and they were all in my school years. You learn to stand up for yourself and become a team player. Things that people need to learn in life.