What do you think of this?

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-16-1999
What do you think of this?
9
Wed, 10-18-2006 - 7:45pm

I ran across this article tonight as I was perusing the news, and it really made me think.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-13-2004
Wed, 10-18-2006 - 8:43pm
It seems like a knee jerk reaction by administrators in response to a legal system that is out of control in so many areas.
In grade school, I think just as much learning takes place on the playground as in the classroom. Game rules are developed. Infractions are enforced. Disputes are negotiated....All without adults organizing everything and handing them the rules on a slip of paper.
This makes me sad.
The effects of this may be more far reaching than these “experts” realize.
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-07-2005
Wed, 10-18-2006 - 8:45pm

Banning games such as tag is just ridiculous, imo. Now dodgeball? I hated that game more than anything. And it was especially miserable playing with the boys. They'd think nothing of smashing me in the face and pain was not something I looked forward to ... so that's a game I think should be banned.

zz

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-29-2005
Thu, 10-19-2006 - 12:24pm
well dodgeball I can see, but TAG?? Jeez! I guess "crack the whip" is out too? Kids need to get their ya-yas out and I'm sorry but happy time circle of hugs for recess isn't going to cut it. This is probably a response to some helicopter parent suing a school because their kid was picked last for teams LOL.

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-07-2005
Thu, 10-19-2006 - 12:41pm

<<>>

I was just thinking about this before you posted.

I usually wasn't picked first, but I was at the top and I always felt so horrible for those kids picked last every single day, all year long. If I was a coach I'd never do something like that. Much too hurtful for some of those kids.

zz

Avatar for mily12
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-18-2003
Thu, 10-19-2006 - 12:42pm

I agree with you. This is all a part of the "politically correct" movement in which we now live. Our kids are the first generation of kids where the adults in their lives have tried to make their worlds exceptionally safe. Most of it is good (such as safety seats, better playgroud equipment) but somethings go a bit overboard. The reason I read why dodgeball is being eliminated from some schools is because it makes the poorer players feel as if they are being bullied. I don't know if I agree with that 100%. I was one of the poorer players, there were points in my life where I was bullied, but I never felt like a victim when we played dodgeball. In fact, I used to love the game. It was my favorite.

As much as we would like to make our kid's world perfect, it's unreasonable to do so. The real world, isn't always nice and safe and we can't fool our kids into believing that it is. They need to know that they will encounter adversity and they need to know how to handle it. Sad, but true.

Mily

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-29-2005
Thu, 10-19-2006 - 1:03pm

"I always felt so horrible for those kids picked last every single day, all year long."


I was that kid and I totally understood why I was picked last. Because I sucked. And you know what, teachers and parents trying to even it out for me would never have diminished the knowledge I had that I sucked. So what, I sucked. Forced me to do other things better like laughing at myself, being clever, academics, or playing quarters LOL!!


I get sick of well-meaning parents always trying to blunt life for their kids. Guess what, life's tough and we all need to learn to deal. Its stupid like how kids don't get "Fs" anymore because its demoralizing and makes them feel like a failure. An "E" is still an "F" and kids are smarter than that. You get an F because you FAILED. Try harder or smarter kid!


I suspect eliminating tag etc is a result of this kind of thinking

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-20-2005
Thu, 10-19-2006 - 2:35pm

Rose,

This isn't just a boy thing. My DD would have been a basketcase without such games. She's not the most academically gifted kid (average per her test scores) but since her big sister is extremely academically gifted, she always felt like she was a winner at sports. She's fast, wirey, got a good throwing arm and very competitive. I dare say that dodge ball and tag played a huge part in her self-esteem at school. I understand that some kids are not good at these things and this negatively effects there self-esteem. However, as a teacher, I feel that it is part of a kid's teacher's responsibility to pick up on what each student does well and try to work with that to develop their self-esteem. Kids are not being taught the real world if they don't learn how to handle failure.

I was a very clutzy kid. I remember breaking my glasses every single day for almost two weeks in the 6th grade playing dodge ball. I'm sure I felt pretty inferior doing this but when I got back from letting the principle put them back together, the librarian would call me out of class (b/c I was ahead in math) and have me work with her on the displays in the library. This took care of all my self-esteem issues. Life was so much simpler when we were kids!!

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-16-1999
Thu, 10-19-2006 - 7:38pm

You make a very good point, every kid is good at something, and it is a teacher's (and parent's) responsibility to find out what that is, and give them opportunities to build their self-esteem in the areas of their strength, whatever that might be.

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-07-2005
Thu, 10-19-2006 - 10:59pm

<<>>

Sometimes it's needed, imo. Not "always", but sometimes. Yeah, life's tough but I don't feel I've hurt my child any by shielding him from some of it, especially when he was in elementary.

<<>>

I imagine it's more because we're a sue-happy society.

zz