School's banning dodgeball is old news, but now apparently schools across the country are banning recess games like touch football, soccer and tag, so says a story in USA Today. All because poor little Mikey might break an arm. Educators worry about "kids running into one another" and getting hurt, says Donna Thompson of the National Program for Playground Safety.
In my world, there wouldn't be a "National Program for Playgound Safety." And people like Donna Thompson would be forced to play tag all day long.
These people wrap all of their "ideas" in the supposedly compassionate shroud of "protecting children." But all they're really doing is protecting themselves from the hassle of dealing with a child who breaks his arm and from the innate pain they feel as a parent when they see their kid come home bleeding. Seriously, what's the great harm in, at worst, breaking an arm? Yeah, it hurts like hell, but in the long run, there's no real damage.
People like Thompson aren't actually motivated by their love of children. They're motivated by their love of themselves. They selfishly want to protect themselves at the expense of children A) having fun and B) learning life lessons that only the playground can teach.
Posted by Jason Thornbury at 6/27/2006 9:05:00 AM
