School Principal Bans Tag From Playground

Head Of Virginia Elementary School Says Game Causes Too Many Injuries

(AP)  Some northern Virginia elementary school students are getting a time-out from tag.

The principal of Kent Gardens Elementary School in McLean told students this month that they are not allowed to play the game of chasing and yelling "You're it!" at recess after determining the playground pastime had gotten out of hand.

Principal Robyn Hooker said she noticed that tag was sending too many students to the nurse's office. She hopes to restore tag - as well as touch football, which also is on hold - after administrators review recess policies.

The issue has divided parents. Some say it's best to err on the side of caution; others say the ban on tag is an example of overaggressive rulemaking that undermines children's development.

"We are regulating the fun out of normal childhood activity," said Jan van Tol, father of a Kent Gardens sixth-grader. "In our effort to be so overprotective, we are not letting children be children."

Fairfax County public schools' office of risk management has a list of activities that are prohibited at any school-sponsored events. Besides bungee-jumping and scuba diving, students are not permitted to break dance or play dodge ball or tug-of-war. Restrictions on tag are less common.

"This is not the old-fashioned tag, where you could use two fingers and you would be it and move on to someone else," Hooker said. The game has become much more aggressive, she said, and involves grabbing people who do not necessarily know they are playing and possibly bumping them to the ground.

"They pile on each other. (Sometimes) they call it 'jailhouse' or 'jailbreak,'" because the child has to break out, she said.

Since the ban on tag began, physical education teachers have begun a "chasing, fleeing and dodging" unit in first through fifth grades. Students essentially play variations of tag, and the teachers remind them about safety rules and point out athletic skills they can transfer to other sports.

Stephanie Sullenger, president of the Kent Gardens PTA, supports the principal. Sullenger said she suspects that children are acting out because of "spring fever," and that tag will be restored as their behavior improves.

[inventagod]

Bu$h never liked tag, he ran and hid...

[jumkey]

Amazing, we can ban tag from schools but not handguns.

What''s wrong with this picture?

[sean7phil]

You can thank all the lawyers for the banning of the game of tag at schools.

[bobnjersey]

[Since the ban on tag began, physical education teachers have begun a "chasing, fleeing and dodging" unit in first through fifth grades. Students essentially play variations of tag, and the teachers remind them about safety rules and point out athletic skills they can transfer to other sports]

why don''t they just put the phys ed teacher out there at recess to supervise their games?

[bobnjersey]

[You can thank all the lawyers for the banning of the game of tag at schools.]
[Posted by sean7phil at 10:15 AM : Apr 15, 2008]

do the lawyers initiate all the suits without the parents consent?

[ballanross]

"(Sometimes) they call it ''jailhouse'' or ''jailbreak,''" because the child has to break out..."

I''m willing to sign up to play tag with The Wuss if that''s the only way to get him into a jailhouse, and then we can watch him on "Jailbreak".

[mike71067]

Yep, we''re slowly and surely turning our children into sissies. Pretty soon we''ll be a nation of sissies. Children will receive bumps, bruises, and scrapes as part of normal play. This is NORMAL.

The say when liberals got ahold of our public schools was the beginning of the end.

[missybelle-2009]

I think the principal''s name should be banned, don''t want to send the wrong message by having a Hooker as a principal of an elementary school....

[extremophil]

Can we still play Spin-the-bottle? Huh? Can we, huh?

[oscarez]

Mrs. Hooker, don''t you know that what don''t kill you will make you strong.

[bobnjersey]

[The say when liberals got ahold of our public schools was the beginning of the end.]
[Posted by mike71067 at 11:21 AM : Apr 15, 2008]

well that goes without saying since the all the world''s problems are due to liberals ... and all the good in the world comes from conservatives.

[notblue]

When the liberal progressive movement in America removed a teachers and parents ability to discipline the students lost respect for authority and the new phenenom of mass shootings emerged. Now there can be no failure, no losers, no games that challenge or create an environment of a clear definiton of winning or losing. Only time will tell what additonal ramifications will result form this new progressive agenda.

[kwajmi]

How about Red Rover? Or Red-Light, Green-Light? Are those banned too? We are coddling these kids way too much nowadays. It''s just some people wanting to get money by easy lawsuits..."my kid fell down and skinned his knee"...lawsuit against the school! Whoo-Hoo! Whereas years ago, it was cool to sport a skinned knee or elbow while playing at recess. Recess is turning into, sit quietly and breathe, instead of releasing excess energy by playing. Let''s teach our kids how to meditate...no lawsuits for that...YET.

[missybelle-2009]

Sadly, maybe these softy liberals have the right idea, possibly... I was raised in the Red Rover-Tag-Dodgeball-picking teams days, and our generation has raised some messed up kids, and now the result is that parents don''t take responsibility for teaching their children life''s lessons and leaving it all up to the schools to take over those chores, therefore it''s much easier to blame someone else for the problems resulting from it, such as more violence being perpetrated by kids...

[erasmus6]

I am all for kids being kids but what we are starting to see is kids being adults. It isn''t any longer about fun and games, it is about ABUSE. Look at the sports, there is always someone hitting someone and putting them in the hospital, some with severe injuries.

Kids are getting more violent everyday. All you have to do is read the articles on this website.

One thing I have picked up on reading comments on this website is that people are more obsessed about being told what to do and what not to do than what is actually right.

[Syndicate]

Why even have a playground?

[shoppingnut-2009]

Yeah, let''s ban everything. Have the kids sit and stare at a wall and become obese, because anything else would cause a lawsuit.

[missybelle-2009]

I have a vision of children doing calisthenics on the playground like the Hitler youth used to do... not exactly a pretty picture. Parents need to take responsibility, or it''s going to be too late.

[bobnjersey]

[When the liberal progressive movement in America removed a teachers and parents ability to discipline the students lost respect for authority and the new phenenom of mass shootings emerged.]
[Posted by notblue at 12:01 PM : Apr 15, 2008]

is this a correlation, a causual connection, or just how you feel?

[erasmus6]

You people are pathetic. You aren''t concerned about whether a child gets seriously hurt or not, you are more concerned about being told you can''t do something. It seems to be a pattern.

The school isn''t talking about banning tag permanently just until the kids can act appropriately.

Yes it is normal for kids to get a little rough but things seem to be crossing a line. If you haven''t noticed that then you must be living in lala land.

With all the violence with kids these days something needs to be done. Parents are obviously not doing their jobs and from reading these posts I can see why. They seem to be more concerned about being told what to do and what not to do.

[dmyers110808]

One of my most favorite memories as a kid was playing "Chase" or "Tag" on my elementary playground.


Every kid is going to get bumps and bruises, you cannot prevent that! I do think this school has gone to far. I live in VA and know that this along with other ridculous rules in schools; such as "No shirt or sweatshirts with hoods are allowed" are getting to be to ridculous. I''m all for taking care of children but you cannot prevent kids from getting cuts and bumps, it happens, everyone has done it...and look we all lived!

[excoachken]

This is a prime example of a person who never got chosen for the team in her own school dyas, finally getting revenge on the "jocks" whom she has held a grudge for ever since. Don''t worry, however, no child will be "left behind" because they will be trampled by those darned "overly competitive Germans, Japanese , and Chinese kids who are playing tag and lovin'' it, right now!

[erasmus6]

Posted by MyOpinion1 at 12:55 PM : Apr 15, 2008

The point here is not that a kid falls down and gets a little scrape. The point here is that the kids feel the need to change what the original game is about to one that includes more violence.

When you go from touching someone and saying "you''re it" to shoving them to the ground and kids piling on top of one kid then you are asking for trouble. Why can''t the game stay the same?

I bet if your kid was playing this game, which is no longer the same as it used to be, and your kid was on the bottom and died from a blow to the head or received broken ribs or whatever, we would hear you screaming bloody murder.

[erasmus6]

I''''m all for taking care of children but you cannot prevent kids from getting cuts and bumps, it happens, everyone has done it...and look we all lived! Posted by dmyers110808

I am not concerned about the little cuts and bumps and yes we all survived, I am talking about the increase in violence among kids that we read about everyday on this website. Things have changed, it isn''t like it used to be years ago. Violence among kids is growing everyday and if parents can''t do their job then the school is going to do it for you.

The attitude seems to be if your little Billy knocks out little Johnny''s teeth it is "way to go!" Unless it is little Johnny that knocks out YOUR little Billy''s, of course.

[yankeerebel7]

Liberals...

[saransk]

What is it that has made our generation so fearful of everything that it is to be a child. Are we afraid that we will be judged as "bad" parents if we don''t have perfect kids??? Play is one of the ways children learn about life - about teamwork, about their abilities, about disappointment and loss. Children need to know how to win, but also how to lose. Parents need to "Get-A-Life" and stop trying to micromanage their kids'' lives. This principal and all like her need to be exiled and we should let our kids be kids.

[sassalin]

slade999999,

What is your problem? I see you all the time on the boards and you post things that make no sense and second have nothing to do with the story.

Are you slow or an idiot (I vote for both)?

Let kids be kids. You may get a scratch or a cut duting tag but I assure you it will heal.

[saransk]

Excuse me for living in the REAL WORLD, but what to screeds about ABC news, the Clintons, or WMD''s, have to do with overly protective parents in Northern Virginia.
Lastdance81 and slade999999 seemed to be in the wrong forum - the "Black Helicopters" and "Freemason are Satan'' forums are at www.foilonmyhead.com

[bobnjersey]

[these kids will just grow up and be wimps and end up being democrats]
[Posted by jamesm12341 at 01:06 PM : Apr 15, 2008]

either that ... or they''ll end up becoming mindless ignoramouses that can''t think for themselves and blame everything on those who aren''t like them.

[displeased]

We made up or altered games as kids. It''s called imagination. We also got hurt when we did stupid things which is part of growing up. It wasn''t a result of violence. It was more of a learning process. Can''t a kid chose not to be part of the game if they feel intimidated or afraid?

[libsrweak]

either that ... or they''''ll end up becoming mindless ignoramouses that can''''t think for themselves and blame everything on those who aren''''t like them.

Posted by bobnjersey at 01:49 PM : Apr 15, 2008
+ report abuse

******

you mean they turn from democrat to liberal democrat??

[michellem99-2009]

Tag..Good God Allmighty people I played that when I was growing up..Are the children being taught this/that barred..I am glad I am older..I got tagged more so but so what..I had to listen to my class mates voices..They rob children of their fun years..

[grammawhamma]

erasmus6: I understand your point but what happened to playground supervision? The kids play too rough...the adult steps in and stops it and warns them. They do it again...the aggressor gets punished by staying indoors for a few days.

[gunownerdan]

ALl sports and other physical activities are the problem here.
Too many of our children are getting hurt every single day while playing sports or running around in playgrounds.
For the safety of our children we must ban all sports and playgrounds in our schools!
Instead of recess, we can let our children watch TV for an hour.
That would be much safer for everyone!
Welcome to crazy world!

[gunownerdan]

ALL sports and other physical activities are the problem here.
Too many of our children are getting hurt every single day while playing sports or running around in playgrounds.
For the safety of our children we must ban all sports and playgrounds in our schools!
Instead of recess, we can let our children watch TV for an hour or play video games.
This would be much safer for everyone!
There is no need to ever go outside.
It''s just a big trash can out there anyways!

[kwajmi]

I''''''''m all for taking care of children but you cannot prevent kids from getting cuts and bumps, it happens, everyone has done it...and look we all lived! Posted by dmyers110808

I am not concerned about the little cuts and bumps and yes we all survived, I am talking about the increase in violence among kids that we read about everyday on this website. Things have changed, it isn''''t like it used to be years ago. Violence among kids is growing everyday and if parents can''''t do their job then the school is going to do it for you.

The attitude seems to be if your little Billy knocks out little Johnny''''s teeth it is "way to go!" Unless it is little Johnny that knocks out YOUR little Billy''''s, of course.
---------------------------------------------------
Posted by erasmus6 at 01:16 PM : Apr 15, 2008

Do you think that being our kids are now playing video games and watching TV all the time and NOT expending that pent-up energy is part of the reason that there''s increased violence? Kids need an outlet for that energy and playing tag, red-rover, red-light green-light, kickball, just being kids and PLAYING would be an outlet? I think so. I don''t even want to address not using a RED pen to correct papers...what are they going to school for if they don''t get graded? My kids were raised that if they did something wrong, I told them it was wrong, and then asked them to try it again. They''re just fine in their adulthood and raising their kids the same way.

[gunownerdan]

We must ban recess and all sports! And don''t forget to ban automobiles and swimming pools. Our children are at risk!

[sharednotion]

In an era in which there is so much concern about childhood (and adult) obesity, why forbid a game like "tag," which encourages children to, run, run, and have a good time? I remember how much I enjoyed "tag" as a child (regardless of who was winning the game)!! There are few ways to exercise that are more fun!

[clmsadjman]

What next are these so called educators going to remove from the kids. Everyone gets an award for participation, nobody loses everyone is a winner because god forbid children learn that maybe they need to try harder and they don''t always win. My generation has been the worst parents yet and our children are even worst than that. Its evidenced by parents calling their adult childs employers when this child gets a bad performance review. We are in big trouble as a country because our enemies don''t have this weakness on their side. Let kids be kids as its happened for thousands of years.

[michellem99-2009]

Gramma,thank ye..That is what was done when I was school child. yes suh..Now they are treated like sisties..We played all manner of things..We were taught to win/lose gracefully..Now the parents/children throw a tizzy if the lose..Ye go to a ball game and all hell breaks lose if the home team does not win..

[greeneyes222]

Banning tag is probably one of the stupidest ideas I''ve seen lately from an "education professional." If I lived in that district, I''d be in front of the school board asking for that principal to be fired.