No More Tag At Recess?!!?
- Rating:
5 after 2 votes
I couldn’t believe my ears when my son told me that no longer are kids allowed to play tag during recess at his school! No More TAG? Are they nuts? I asked him why? His answer, he was told by the yard coach it was due to possible lawsuits if a kid gets injured. I was, shall we say, not too happy!
Hey, I understand about lawsuits. (I AM from L.A., for heavens sake!) But to take away the one playground game that’s been around ever since kids were in school because some kid might fall and get hurt and…gasp…sue the school?
I then asked my son, well, aren’t you allowed to play on the monkey bars? Aren’t they just as dangerous if not more so? He told me that they were only allowed to swing on the bar, but they weren’t allowed to climb on the bars. So then I asked him, “What do you do at recess”. His answer: “Well mom, there isn’t much we’re allowed to do, so we just sit and talk”.
Recess should be for the kids to get their pent up energy out. To be able to run around, play tag, jump on the jungle gym, and yes..if they would like to sit and talk that too. I’m sorry, but to take tag away? Crazy.
So here’s what I’m thinking, the only way to get the game of tag back into the school yards where it belongs is to have every parent sign a waiver before the beginning of the school year. I’d sign on!
Thoughts?
Judi
http://www.lipsticknlaundry.com/
Hey, I understand about lawsuits. (I AM from L.A., for heavens sake!) But to take away the one playground game that’s been around ever since kids were in school because some kid might fall and get hurt and…gasp…sue the school?
I then asked my son, well, aren’t you allowed to play on the monkey bars? Aren’t they just as dangerous if not more so? He told me that they were only allowed to swing on the bar, but they weren’t allowed to climb on the bars. So then I asked him, “What do you do at recess”. His answer: “Well mom, there isn’t much we’re allowed to do, so we just sit and talk”.
Recess should be for the kids to get their pent up energy out. To be able to run around, play tag, jump on the jungle gym, and yes..if they would like to sit and talk that too. I’m sorry, but to take tag away? Crazy.
So here’s what I’m thinking, the only way to get the game of tag back into the school yards where it belongs is to have every parent sign a waiver before the beginning of the school year. I’d sign on!
Thoughts?
Judi
http://www.lipsticknlaundry.com/
Tags: games, kids, playground, recess, rules, school, teachers
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Lisa Survillas on -
My 8 yr old son was in the assistant principals office this week for running on the blacktop...are you F****** kidding...we can't run on the blacktop. Yep...that's right, there are teatherball poles that they could run into out there...where are the people with brains. can't anything at school be fun anymore!!
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Permalink Reply by Pat Graham-Block on -
I have been observing a trend for a while now, whereby "society" is putting kids in a bubble (as Amanda noted in her post).
I believe it is detrimental to the well-being of kids and actually wrote about it in my blog last year.
You owe it to yourself and your kids to watch the video called:
5 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Kid Do.
Pat
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Permalink Reply by Judi on -
Pat,
I watched the video and I absolutely LOVED that guy! Thank you for the post! I wish I could send my son to his classes! I totally agree with what he was saying! And the little Inuit kids with knives? Wow!
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Permalink Reply by mom2beauty on -
Jerri Ann said:
There's research (and if someone wants it, I'll definitely look it up) that states that rewarding children for behaviors that are normal expectations sets your child up to have an addictive personality. I see absolutely no reason to reward my child for putting his own clothes in the laundry hamper. Where else should I expect him to put them? And, I'm not giving him a candy or a sticker or anything else for doing it.
And, with that, he is expected to behave according to general etiquette and society norms while in school and I do not want him rewarded because of good behavior. I understand that negativity breeds negativity. That doesn't mean that a child who is being disruptive shouldn't be punished but there has to be some equalization in making sure you the children understand that actions have reactions. There are other ways to instill positive re-enforcement and elicit proper behavior than offering up a treat for good behavior.
Now, coming from someone whose son sits at a table alone because he talks too much, you might think I'd see this differently. But, the fact of the matter is, he has to learn when it is appropriate to talk and when it isn't. His teacher has done a wonderful job of letting him work his way back to sitting with the group. So, by the time Christmas Break rolled around, he was sitting with his classmates. That was the reward not candy. The punishment was sitting alone.
Now, he has been sitting alone again since we returned to school from Christmas Break .
Wow I feel so compelled to reply to this! It breaks my heart to see children treated this way! I am sure that you are a very loving caring Mother....and what may be right for you certainly may not be right for me....I respect how you chose to raise your child...however since you put this out on the board ... again I feel compelled to reply to it!
Seriously....correcting a child or punishing them for misbehaving is one thing! Isolating them, embarrassing them and making them feel like an outcast in another! To sit a child in the hallway for 10 min. for disrupting class is one thing...to have them sitting away from the other children for the better part of the school year is terrible in my opinion!
I do not in any way believe that because I keep a Reward sticker chart for my DD and reward her with an allowance, toy or outing at the end of the week for doing the things she has been asked to do...that it will cause her to have an addictive personality!!! That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard!
HOWEVER on the flip side of that....
I have an ADHD husband and he functions very well as an adult and Father now...with the Lords help! He is a professional with a wonderful career....
He was overly punished for acting out in class!!! He lost recess and field trips and he too had to sit away from the class at times (making him feel like an outcast) ...and you know what that did to him for a long time.....he was an angry, sad little boy, who had no self esteem or self worth! He had so much energy and children with these types of problems just simply can not control their behavior...we as a society demand for these children to act a certain way...the APPRORIATE way deemed by society...but the truth is you can punish these kids till the cows come home and they just do not have the ability to control the energy! It can be maddening for them....exhausting.....and then to be scolded and treated like you are a bad kid because you refuse to follow the rules!!! AKKKK!!! What the H**L do people really think that this is going to raise healthy normal productive adults????? Are you kidding!!! All it does is break their spirit!!!
I am so passionate about this because I have seen first hand....and I would much rather reward my child for cleaning up her bedroom...give her a lollipop for being brave at the doctors....rather then breaking her spirit so that she fits into MANS mold!!!!
Lets say we meet back here in about 20 years and find out how things went!
Again just my opinion.....
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Permalink Reply by Judi on
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JeriAnn,
Thank you so much for writing this. My son has been diagnosed with ADHD , and he is one of those kids who is exactly as you described! And no matter how many times they take recess (which no longer HAS even tag, as you've seen in my blog) it doesn't curb his behavior, in fact...I believe it makes him worse. The kicker is he's been tested as above average in intelligence! So he gets straight "A"s in work, and ZERO's in behavior! I, personally, find rewards help. The truth is, as an adult, you get a job, you work, and your reward is your paycheck. You work harder, and your reward is a promotion. So are we not just teaching them this? I don't know what's right or wrong. But something my dad said about ADHD i found very profound: He said "why does the educational system look at ADHD as such a negative, instead of looking at the positive aspects of it? Like the fact that your son is able to hyper-focus and build the most amazing projects from bits of scraps from broken down household objects? (example)." Yes, it may be hard for him to sit still and listen for 6 hours a day at school, but he learns differently. He is more kinestic. Why can't our schools do something more for those kids? Just a thought.
mom2beauty said:Jerri Ann said:
There's research (and if someone wants it, I'll definitely look it up) that states that rewarding children for behaviors that are normal expectations sets your child up to have an addictive personality. I see absolutely no reason to reward my child for putting his own clothes in the laundry hamper. Where else should I expect him to put them? And, I'm not giving him a candy or a sticker or anything else for doing it.
And, with that, he is expected to behave according to general etiquette and society norms while in school and I do not want him rewarded because of good behavior. I understand that negativity breeds negativity. That doesn't mean that a child who is being disruptive shouldn't be punished but there has to be some equalization in making sure you the children understand that actions have reactions. There are other ways to instill positive re-enforcement and elicit proper behavior than offering up a treat for good behavior.
Now, coming from someone whose son sits at a table alone because he talks too much, you might think I'd see this differently. But, the fact of the matter is, he has to learn when it is appropriate to talk and when it isn't. His teacher has done a wonderful job of letting him work his way back to sitting with the group. So, by the time Christmas Break rolled around, he was sitting with his classmates. That was the reward not candy. The punishment was sitting alone.
Now, he has been sitting alone again since we returned to school from Christmas Break .
Wow I feel so compelled to reply to this! It breaks my heart to see children treated this way! I am sure that you are a very loving caring Mother....and what may be right for you certainly may not be right for me....I respect how you chose to raise your child...however since you put this out on the board ... again I feel compelled to reply to it!
Seriously....correcting a child or punishing them for misbehaving is one thing! Isolating them, embarrassing them and making them feel like an outcast in another! To sit a child in the hallway for 10 min. for disrupting class is one thing...to have them sitting away from the other children for the better part of the school year is terrible in my opinion!
I do not in any way believe that because I keep a Reward sticker chart for my DD and reward her with an allowance, toy or outing at the end of the week for doing the things she has been asked to do...that it will cause her to have an addictive personality!!! That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard!
HOWEVER on the flip side of that....
I have an ADHD husband and he functions very well as an adult and Father now...with the Lords help! He is a professional with a wonderful career....
He was overly punished for acting out in class!!! He lost recess and field trips and he too had to sit away from the class at times (making him feel like an outcast) ...and you know what that did to him for a long time.....he was an angry, sad little boy, who had no self esteem or self worth! He had so much energy and children with these types of problems just simply can not control their behavior...we as a society demand for these children to act a certain way...the APPRORIATE way deemed by society...but the truth is you can punish these kids till the cows come home and they just do not have the ability to control the energy! It can be maddening for them....exhausting.....and then to be scolded and treated like you are a bad kid because you refuse to follow the rules!!! AKKKK!!! What the H**L do people really think that this is going to raise healthy normal productive adults????? Are you kidding!!! All it does is break their spirit!!!
I am so passionate about this because I have seen first hand....and I would much rather reward my child for cleaning up her bedroom...give her a lollipop for being brave at the doctors....rather then breaking her spirit so that she fits into MANS mold!!!!
Lets say we meet back here in about 20 years and find out how things went!
Again just my opinion.....
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Permalink Reply by Stacey on -
Wow! My daughter is 14 now so I'm kinda out of the loop in reference to these things but I also have a 14 month old and CAN NOT believe what I am reading. Seriously, running might cause a law suit?? WOW!
mom2momexchange.com
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Permalink Reply by Katia on -
Schools are getting a little over sensitive. I also found out my kids can not play in rain puddles because their pants may get wet. I asked what does it matter if they are wearing their snow pants anyway. But nope can't do it. Or when it is snowing now snow ball fights. I think tag is still allowed but I will ask. It is getting crazy. People just need to relax. The rest of the world is shaking their heads in disbelief.
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