It May Not Be Why The World Is All F%^&# Up...

But it still makes me sad...

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http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/10/18/no.tag.ap/index.html
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School bans tag, other chase games

POSTED: 10:52 a.m. EDT, October 18, 2006

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ATTLEBORO, Massachusetts (AP) -- Tag, you're out!

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.

While there is no districtwide ban on contact sports during recess, local rules have been cropping up. Several school administrators around Attleboro, a city of about 45,000 residents, took aim at dodgeball a few years ago, saying it was exclusionary and dangerous. (Watch how second-grader Kelsey interpreted the rule -- 1:30)

Elementary schools in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Spokane, Washington, also recently banned tag during recess. A suburban Charleston, South Carolina, school outlawed all unsupervised contact sports.

"I think that it's unfortunate that kids' lives are micromanaged and there are social skills they'll never develop on their own," said Debbie Laferriere, who has two children at Willett, about 40 miles south of Boston. "Playing tag is just part of being a kid."

Another Willett parent, Celeste D'Elia, said her son feels safer because of the rule. "I've witnessed enough near collisions," she said.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Where do we draw the line at being 'protective' of our kids? Sure, ban weapons (that is a given) and even make them go threw metal detectors if you must - that I can understand, but....tag? Kids are kids. Part of being a child is playing and while - yes - there will be times when they *gasp* get hurt, I believe it is all a part of growing up. I'm not saying let them beat each other down... just let them play. Give them an opportunity to be kids.

I guess we can blame lawsuit happy America for this one. To me it all started with that lady who sued McDonalds because she spilt her hot coffee as she was driving (ummmm hello...I guess everyone needs a warning on a cup to say you shouldn't drink steaming hot coffee while driving?) and ended up getting a boatload of money...)

Remember when we used to play dodgeball during recess? Sure the whole idea of someone darting a ball at high speeds towards someone else seemed crazy and every once in a while someone might get hit with the ball - and it would hurt sometimes, but you know what? We survived. And - if I also remember correctly - we didn't take anyone to court about it either.

*sigh*

Tag----You're it!