Wrapping Children Up In Cotton

We are raising a nation of wimps!

AP: Massachusetts School Bans Tag Amid Fears of Injuries, Lawsuits---

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.

Accidents can happen at any time. Should we ban lockers because a kid could walk into an open locker door? Should we ban chairs because a kid could fall out of one onto the floor? What about banning forks and (plastic) knives at lunch? Anyone could stab himself or another person in the eye---after all, if we are banning tag, then children have less opportunity to sharpen their eye-to-hand skills.

Elementary schools in Cheyenne, Wyo., and Spokane, Wash., also recently banned tag during recess. A suburban Charleston, S.C., 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."

Absolutely true.

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

Hmmm, near collisions? "Near" as in "almost happened"? So the collisions almost happened? Then what harm was done? Apparently Celeste D'Elia's son is not so good at sports and relishes the rule that bans tag because it means he does not have to feel inadequate anymore. There is nothing wrong with sitting out a game of tag. But there is something wrong with banning tag.

Why don't we just wrap children up in cotton and have them sit quietly on the ground?

Why can't kids just be kids???

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