Sissification of America Continues
My most vivid memories of my elementary and junior high schools came from the playgrounds.
Back then, in the 1970s, before the touchy-feely types launched their efforts to wrap every child in booboo-preventing bubble wrap, we played games such as dodge ball, red rover, stick ball, tag, football, kick ball, etc., the kind of stuff that our parents - and their parents - played as children. My concern for the long term is that we're raising a nation of oversensitive, wimpy kids who will be poorly equipped to face adversity the way Americans did during the Great Depression, World War II and other trying times.
Aside from an occasional scraped knee, bruised arm or wounded pride, I can't recall any serious injuries. The playground served as an important social development tool. We learned how to make friends, share and play fair. We also did some teasing and got into fistfights, but again, I don't recall any serious injuries, emotional or physical.
Recently, The Enterprise did a story about dwindling recess time and a national effort to bring it back.
Nationwide, some 40 percent of U.S. elementary schools have either cut or might cut recess, according to the National Parent Teacher Association. Subsequently, the National PTA and Cartoon Network have launched "Rescuing Recess," a campaign to make unstructured play time part of the school day.
So much effort, particularly in Texas, has gone into standardized-test performance that recess has fallen far being reading, writing and arithmetic. But in some ways, it's just as important.
While I agree that the classroom should come first, too many of life's lessons come only from a school playground through children's simple interaction in a loosely controlled and monitored environment.
Then, today, I read this story from USA Today:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-06-26-recess-bans_x.htm
According to the story, educators are axing playground games such as dodge ball, tag and soccer - SOCCER? - because of the potential injuries that could come from "children running into one another."
In South Carolina, Charleston County school spokeswoman Mary Girault said such activities were stopped there "because children suffered broken arms and dislocated fingers playing touch football and soccer," according to the USA Today story.
Here's what I have to say about that: So what?
While I don't want my two sons to suffer terrible injuries, I think injuries such as cuts, bruises and whatnot can help instill some common sense in a young child's mind. Perhaps they won't think they're so invincible by the time they get into the serious business of driving cars and weighing the pros and cons of potential teen-age ignorance and stupidity.
I vividly remember getting hammered in the eye by a baseball hit by a kid I thought was a wimp. He was in the T-ball batter's box, and I got too close, because I figured he could barely hit it off the tee, and he clubbed one right in my face. He probably remembers that one to this day. I would.
Lesson: Don't get too close to the batter, and don't underestimate your opponent.
In third grade, I jumped out of a tree, trying to land on a pile of pine needles that was not directly beneath. I broke my right arm.
Lesson: Gravity sucks, and next time remember to swing a little so you can catch the pile instead of the ground.
Finally, there was the tag football game in junior high in which I tagged a little too hard on a guy much bigger than me. He stopped running, pointed his finger at me and said: "You do that again, and I'll kick your ass."
Lesson: Don't mess with people who can kick your ass.
I'm sure I could think of myriad more if I put some more thought to it, but I've made my point.
As parents, we worry incessantly about our children getting hurt ... or worse. But keeping children in a world of protective packing peanuts is not the answer. Life lesson's will only get harder on them if learned later on.
Teaching children common sense - and not constantly trying to thwart life's abrasions - is the way to go, just as it was for our parents and their parents.
Let them play.
Back then, in the 1970s, before the touchy-feely types launched their efforts to wrap every child in booboo-preventing bubble wrap, we played games such as dodge ball, red rover, stick ball, tag, football, kick ball, etc., the kind of stuff that our parents - and their parents - played as children. My concern for the long term is that we're raising a nation of oversensitive, wimpy kids who will be poorly equipped to face adversity the way Americans did during the Great Depression, World War II and other trying times.
Aside from an occasional scraped knee, bruised arm or wounded pride, I can't recall any serious injuries. The playground served as an important social development tool. We learned how to make friends, share and play fair. We also did some teasing and got into fistfights, but again, I don't recall any serious injuries, emotional or physical.
Recently, The Enterprise did a story about dwindling recess time and a national effort to bring it back.
Nationwide, some 40 percent of U.S. elementary schools have either cut or might cut recess, according to the National Parent Teacher Association. Subsequently, the National PTA and Cartoon Network have launched "Rescuing Recess," a campaign to make unstructured play time part of the school day.
So much effort, particularly in Texas, has gone into standardized-test performance that recess has fallen far being reading, writing and arithmetic. But in some ways, it's just as important.
While I agree that the classroom should come first, too many of life's lessons come only from a school playground through children's simple interaction in a loosely controlled and monitored environment.
Then, today, I read this story from USA Today:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-06-26-recess-bans_x.htm
According to the story, educators are axing playground games such as dodge ball, tag and soccer - SOCCER? - because of the potential injuries that could come from "children running into one another."
In South Carolina, Charleston County school spokeswoman Mary Girault said such activities were stopped there "because children suffered broken arms and dislocated fingers playing touch football and soccer," according to the USA Today story.
Here's what I have to say about that: So what?
While I don't want my two sons to suffer terrible injuries, I think injuries such as cuts, bruises and whatnot can help instill some common sense in a young child's mind. Perhaps they won't think they're so invincible by the time they get into the serious business of driving cars and weighing the pros and cons of potential teen-age ignorance and stupidity.
I vividly remember getting hammered in the eye by a baseball hit by a kid I thought was a wimp. He was in the T-ball batter's box, and I got too close, because I figured he could barely hit it off the tee, and he clubbed one right in my face. He probably remembers that one to this day. I would.
Lesson: Don't get too close to the batter, and don't underestimate your opponent.
In third grade, I jumped out of a tree, trying to land on a pile of pine needles that was not directly beneath. I broke my right arm.
Lesson: Gravity sucks, and next time remember to swing a little so you can catch the pile instead of the ground.
Finally, there was the tag football game in junior high in which I tagged a little too hard on a guy much bigger than me. He stopped running, pointed his finger at me and said: "You do that again, and I'll kick your ass."
Lesson: Don't mess with people who can kick your ass.
I'm sure I could think of myriad more if I put some more thought to it, but I've made my point.
As parents, we worry incessantly about our children getting hurt ... or worse. But keeping children in a world of protective packing peanuts is not the answer. Life lesson's will only get harder on them if learned later on.
Teaching children common sense - and not constantly trying to thwart life's abrasions - is the way to go, just as it was for our parents and their parents.
Let them play.
posted by Brian Pearson at 12:17 PM
3 comments
