Taking the fun out of recess?

So, I was watching the news today at my boss's house while his cable was being installed, and saw a program on how games such as dodgeball & tag are being banned at school for being "too dangerous." This has been happening for several years now. USA Today  says that: 

"The bans were passed in the name of safety, but some children's health advocates say limiting exercise and free play can inhibit a child's development."

On TV they had some bastardized version of tag called "shadow tag," whereupon if your shadow touches another person's shadow, they are it...um, excuse me, isn't there more of a chance of kids running into each other and other things when they are flailing about looking down at their shadows? I didn't hear any good excuse for or against the dodgeball and tag bans. The folks that are for the dodgeball ban say that it is too aggressive, leaves kids out, allows bullying and hurts children. I see validity in some of those statements, if taken to an extreme.

The show that I was watching (which I didn't catch the name of, some local news channel) interviewed Matt Labash who wrote The Weekly Standard article, "What's Wrong With Dodgeball?" Although Labash seems to make some good key points about how these sports in many ways teach kids about competition and how to be stronger, but he puts his points under the larger title of "The Wussification of America." In this broadcast I watched, the words "sissy" and "wuss" were used so many times that I personally wanted to smack the tv, or Labash with his jocky crew-cut haircut and Armani suit. With the persistent use of "sissy" and "wussy" it is no wonder that this pro-dodgeball guerilla warfare is enforced by jocky pro-war Republicans. 

The other, softer end of the argument, is definitely too soft for my taste too. They interviewed a lady who is the principal of a "no touch" school. That's right kids, a school where you can't have ANY physical contact with ANYBODY. Hello, attachment theory? Are you there? Kids need touch, and they need to learn the differences between good touching and bad touching. The larger issue at hand is bullying and the effects that that has. Enforcing a no-touch rule just saves the school from lawsuits and angry parents. 

So what does this all come down to? I think, good parenting and modeling. Kids learn from their parents and how their parents model behaviors. I mean, why is it that these problems didn't seem to exist 30 years ago? Was it because they were not reported or because corporal punishment was more accepted or because the media didn't play a role or because parents weren't forced to work so many hours in the day and had more time to spend with the kids? There are plenty of reasons, good and bad. You make the decision. 

-kfid