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  • School Bans playing Tag...

    Can Someone stop the planet for me? I want to get off this goody twoshoes kick that we are on....When we'll people relalize that there is always going to be conflict in what ever form you make it. Hey I got picked on ALOT as a kid, but I feel that it made me a better person and I'm "well-adjusted" and don't feel the need to go out and kill people

    From the Star Ledger


    At 9, David Meltzer is something of an outlaw. He wants to participate in illicit behavior specifically banned at Millington School in Long Hill, where he attends fourth grade.

    He likes to play tag.

    "It shouldn't be banned. You're just running and tagging," he said simply, as if explaining it to, well, a fourth-grader. "You can play it with all your friends."


    Without any boundaries, kids playing tag were darting through hopscotch and basketball games, bumping into other students and ending up in the nurse's office, Millington Principal Karen Wetherell said.

    In an age of rising insurance premiums and increased angst over physical and psychological trauma, seemingly innocent playground classics are coming under increased scrutiny. Millington, in Morris County, is not the first New Jersey school to ban tag, and dodge ball is an absolute pariah in some circles.

    Still, some experts and parents wonder aloud whether something is being lost in the rush to protect children.

    "We live in a society that makes kids so safe, ultimately, we'll put them in a cocoon," said Charles T. Kuntzleman, a University of Michigan professor of kinesiology, the study of exercise and body movement.

    At Millington, where pupils attend second through fifth grades, the ban on tag was part of a code of conduct children signed at the beginning of the school year. Pupils at the K-1 Gillette School, the only other Long Hill school with recess, are similarly banned from playing tag, but nothing has been put in writing.

    "The idea of loosely running around and chasing each other is not safe," Long Hill Superintendent Arthur DiBenedetto said.

    In 1999, Tuscan Elementary School in Maplewood ended tag games, fearing a lawsuit because children were getting hurt when they fell on the asphalt, Principal Pat Browne said.

    At Gould Elementary School in North Caldwell and Ross Street Elementary School in Woodbridge, tag games escalated into knockdown, pile-on and pushing clinics, school officials said. In the past few years, both schools have banned the game in favor of organized recess activities.

    Then there is the brouhaha over bombardment.

    Neil Williams, chairman of the physical education department at Eastern Connecticut State University, touched that one off a few years ago when he crusaded against the game, also known as dodge ball.

    Educators followed Williams' lead and the game has been banned in schools in New Jersey, New York, Virginia, Maryland, Maine, Ohio and Texas. The knock was that some students get singled out as targets, and the game fails to provide enough exercise.

    Mary Beth Klotz, a psychologist with the National Association of School Psychologists, said tag can produce some of the same problems.

    "There's potential for some victimization," Klotz said. "Tag may look okay socially, but it can be a double standard because kids can use it to bully a certain student."

    Kuntzleman, the University of Michigan professor, said such concerns can be overblown. He said that children can be singled out in any game.

    "That's life," he said.

    In Millington, children do play a form of tag -- but unlike the playground free-for-all remembered by parents of a different generation, this tamer event is played indoors with plenty of supervision. The rules vary, but sometimes a teacher decrees that a child can only be tagged once during the game or teams are chosen.

    Experts say that misses the point.

    Judy Young, executive director of the National Association for Sport and Physical Education, said it is important for kids to have time for creative, unorganized play.

    Kuntzleman said there are important social lessons to be learned, such as conflict resolution and respecting a fellow student's personal boundaries.

    "You don't just learn these things when you're 21. It starts much younger," he said.

    Susan Orshan, whose 9-year-old son, David, attends the Millington School, said she remembers many a rough game of tag as a little girl. She said that no matter how many times she was "it" or got pushed or scratched or fell, she shrugged it off.

    "There's almost nothing kids can play where they can't slip and fall or get hurt," she said.

    Jerry Barca is a reporter in the Morris County bureau. He may be reached at jbarca@starledger.com or (973) 539-7910.
    Why is it called tourist season, if we can't shoot at them?

  • #2
    These people need to get a freakin' life. The way they're going it won't be any fun to be a kid at all.

    Dr. Mordrid
    Dr. Mordrid
    ----------------------------
    An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.

    I carry a gun because I can't throw a rock 1,250 fps

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    • #3
      Another bunch of losers.
      Chief Lemon Buyer no more Linux sucks but not as much
      Weather nut and sad git.

      My Weather Page

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      • #4
        I can't really blame the school when I know that it's because of the ****oles that will sue them if something minor happens to their child.
        Gigabyte P35-DS3L with a Q6600, 2GB Kingston HyperX (after *3* bad pairs of Crucial Ballistix 1066), Galaxy 8800GT 512MB, SB X-Fi, some drives, and a Dell 2005fpw. Running WinXP.

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        • #5
          Yeah see what all those, liberal bleeding heart, let's blame it on someone else do-gooders like Dr. Spock, and I'm not talking about the one from Star Trek, have done to this country. It's turning us into a bunch of pansies. We wouldn't want someone to scrape their knee or get their feelings hurt.

          Joel
          Libertarian is still the way to go if we truly want a real change.

          www.lp.org

          ******************************

          System Specs: AMD XP2000+ @1.68GHz(12.5x133), ASUS A7V133-C, 512MB PC133, Matrox Parhelia 128MB, SB Live! 5.1.
          OS: Windows XP Pro.
          Monitor: Cornerstone c1025 @ 1280x960 @85Hz.

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          • #6
            These spineless ****s want to turn their kids into more spineless ****s. How do they expect their kids to function in the real world it they keep hiding them? I got picked on and physically hurt. I dealt with it. Let the kids learn you stupid ****wits!

            As for the bombardment version of dodgeball, it was the most fun my class had in the sixth grade. Just give the kids a chance to opt out of the game if they are scared. Geesh. Stupid ****wits!

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Joel
              Yeah see what all those, liberal bleeding heart, let's blame it on someone else do-gooders like Dr. Spock, and I'm not talking about the one from Star Trek, have done to this country. It's turning us into a bunch of pansies. We wouldn't want someone to scrape their knee or get their feelings hurt.

              Joel
              What's *really* interesting is that in the years before his death Dr. Spock reputiated the teachings in his books entirely. He saw the error of his ways in the spoiled brat behavior of the kids whose parents read that trash instead of listening to their own parents

              Dr. Mordrid
              Dr. Mordrid
              ----------------------------
              An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.

              I carry a gun because I can't throw a rock 1,250 fps

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              • #8
                don't know about dodge ball
                but banning tag

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                • #9
                  Dodge ball is deadly, tag is simple fun. St00pid liberal spineless freaks.

                  "Oh no, poor Timmy scraped his elbow on the grass. We need to ban tag!"

                  Isn't natural selection supposed to weed these weaklings out?

                  Jammrock
                  “Inside every sane person there’s a madman struggling to get out”
                  –The Light Fantastic, Terry Pratchett

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by High_Jumbllama
                    These spineless ****s want to turn their kids into more spineless ****s. How do they expect their kids to function in the real world it they keep hiding them? I got picked on and physically hurt. I dealt with it. Let the kids learn you stupid ****wits!
                    Yeh I wasn't very big at school so I tended to get bullied. Only one solution hit the buggers back soon they'd got tired of beating me into pulp and found someone they only had to hit once. Later I grew a bit which madfe life easier but the big change was hitting them back. I suppose I should sue the school for damages.
                    Chief Lemon Buyer no more Linux sucks but not as much
                    Weather nut and sad git.

                    My Weather Page

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                    • #11
                      Brings to mind a couple of stories about my oldest son & my daughter.

                      When my son was in 4th grade (~9 yrs) my daughter was in 2nd (~7 yrs). One day at recess this 6th grade (~11 yrs) bully threw my son down on the ground and started beating him up.

                      One would have expected the teacher to intervene, but she didn't have time. In came my daughter, who promptly jumped on the bullies back and coldcocked him with a rock

                      When we went into the office for the obligatory conference we fully expected both to be thrown out of school given PC had already started back then. We were wrong.

                      The principal laughed his arse off about the incident, stating that he had been hoping for someone to kick the snot of of that kid since the start of the year. He just didn't expect it to be a 7 year old girl

                      Later on in her school career, I think it was 10th grade, some kid was harrassing her; pawing her and telling her she should offer him her "services", putting it kindly.

                      She grabbed him by his shirt, spun him around, shoved him into a locker and yelled in front of God and the world: "put one more hand on me and I'll staple your dick to that locker". He never bothered her again.

                      Same Principal (he had moved on to the high school); same reaction.

                      Sabrina wasn't then, nor will she ever be, a wall flower

                      Dr. Mordrid

                      Last edited by Dr Mordrid; 19 November 2002, 09:45.
                      Dr. Mordrid
                      ----------------------------
                      An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.

                      I carry a gun because I can't throw a rock 1,250 fps

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Ha.. good girl!

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                        • #13
                          Yup...and we're very proud of her. She's now studying veterinary science and is just a great mother. What we used to call "a smart cookie".

                          Dr. Mordrid
                          Dr. Mordrid
                          ----------------------------
                          An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.

                          I carry a gun because I can't throw a rock 1,250 fps

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            I used to have that deffensive attitude regarding my 2 year older brother when I was under 8.
                            Right now I'd probably hit him with the rock

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                            • #15
                              Sabrina felt that way about Kurt at times too, mainly because his cutting up could drive her nuts. Take a look;



                              Check her expression. He had been screwing around, as usual, requiring this shot to be redone about 8 times....which was pissing her off in a huge way. I kept waiting for that hand of hers to reach around a bit further and throttle him.

                              It's my favorite picture of them since it shows their relationship to perfection

                              Thing is though: don't ever let an outsider mess with either of them or the other would be there stomping them into the ground.

                              Dr. Mordrid
                              Last edited by Dr Mordrid; 19 November 2002, 12:06.
                              Dr. Mordrid
                              ----------------------------
                              An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.

                              I carry a gun because I can't throw a rock 1,250 fps

                              Comment

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