Schools Limiting Recess Activities

[Moved to Elsewhere 11,331]

Okay so I was surfing the web and found this article. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-204_162-57606514/n.y-school-bans-balls-at-recess-cracks-down-on-tag-games-over-safety-fears/

 

That is just ridiculous. They are pretty much limiting the fun kids could have at recess. That's not the only thing, I have heard from multiple sources telling stories about about how kids aren't allowed to run on the playground, schools not allowing coloring, or shortening recess. That is just stupid. I mean yeah they do it to raise test scores but kids still need that time to have fun and have a childhood. Also these types of people wonder why obesity is a problem. Well this is probably one of the reasons why. They also do this to make sure the kids are safe. I can see where they are coming from but unless it's a serious injury, then the kid would probably just cry or shake it off.

 

Sorry for the rant, but what do you think of stuff like this?

[Pomfritter 165]

Blame America. And then blame America's legal system. Then blame greed. Then blame humans for having greed. Then realize it's humans faults for things like this. Until there is a better species, this stuff will happen forever.

[LittleRawr 679]

They're coddling the kids way too much. Sometimes, some kids can only learn through getting an injury and dusting themselves off. If they ban sports, they'll never know what not to do.

 

You can only learn so much through words and books, after all.

[Rainblow H. Ash 5,091]

Ah yes, the classic war on recess.

 

*Sets down pipe*

 

Well, I have a lot of thoughts on this, but I'm not sure if I'll share them all in one sitting.

 

I will say that all the little chunks that government, both locally and larger, have been taking out of recess are disheartening. As you said, there's a push for complete safety in our society as well as larger test scores, and it's saddening. Recess is what a child needs to grow, develop, learn, and interact just as much as education in the form of structured classes.

 

Without recess, a child is going to grow up stunted in some areas. Now, one could argue that a child can play when they get home or interact with friends on the weekend, but some places are stacking up a lot of homework that needs to get done, not to mention some children just don't get out as much and recess allows them to do just that.

 

I have a lot more to say, but I'll leave with this: I have lots of fond memories of recess and I made some of my best friends and played some of my most creative games out on the schoolgrounds.

 

I hope this generation and the ones after it don't miss out on that.

[Shanks 10,816]

Why not just cut out the middle man and put all the kids in plastic bubbles with feeding tubes for the rest of their lives? Nobody will get hurt then and we can all live happily ever after. This is so ridiculous if this continues kids are going to grow up to total pussies, they won't have any social skills whatsoever, they will be afraid of their own shadows. And most disturbingly of all won't be able to deal with problems they will dealing with as adults like stress and failure. It is this kind of coddling that has lead to so many screwed up teens and adults who can't deal with the world around them.

[Scootalove 10,689]

It's bad enough that they are increasing the curriculum in Elementary schools but, now they are limiting recess. I know education comes first but, at least let them take a break too.

[GhostPony750 959]

Playing is learning, it's the most important part of the education, of the childhood, of the life. It helps the kids to get ready for their lifes. They will have no creativity, they won't learn from their mistakes.

 

This is just awful.

 

I mean wtf, seriously? They already consider everyone like being the same, and this need change. (Yay for individualism!) Do they really need to worsen it now?

 

What's with these greedy people above? They are really trying to shape the kids? They want all of them to be the same, boring people? Well, I'll tell you: This is impossible, and this will ruin the childhood of many kids. Eveyone is different. One will want to work in mechanics, one will work as a teacher.

 

I am... astonished by this. All this stupidity, incredible. I'd like to start a petition, seriously.

[Katana 298]

Sadly, I think that when you look at the whole thing from a far viewpoint, it's pretty easy for anyone to say "Yeah, these are ridiculous." But when you're thinking about one specific recess rule immediately after an incident where one kid had to go to a doctor, it becomes really difficult to tell parents "Nah, we aren't doing shit." even though that's really the response that makes sense.

 

What little I see of kids makes them seem pretty restless and investigative of their surroundings (much to their parents' frustration), and this seems like a prime reason as to why that's happening.

[Frith is Magick 1,471]

Getting scrapes and bruises is part of the fun of childhood. You do something fun, hurt yourself, and move on. Young ones bounce back from little injuries. Pain is also the best way to teach safety, a small scrape will soon be forgotten, but they will remember why it happened. I remember when I got my first pocket knife, I cut myself doing stupid things, but I would put a band-aid on the cut and go on with my day, knowing what happens when one does stupid stuff with sharp objects. I still cut myself doing stupid stuff, but at least I know it's stupid, know I will likely get cut, and fully accept the consequences of that action. Kids who are coddled, both physically and emotionally, do not develop the ability to deal with problems, and do not learn how to be smart or careful without explicit rules. Reducing the activities that are permitted at recess is harmful to students in the long run, and makes child obesity more likely (diet and exercise outside of school count for more, but midday activity is a positive influence).

 

I can see how a policy like this would be passed in america. Tort law there is different from here in Canada, and plaintiffs there have an easier time winning in a civil suit, it seems. I can honestly see parents successfully suing a school because their kid tripped or took a soccer ball to the face. People down there are quicker to sue, meaning the only way to avoid being smacked with an expensive lawsuit is to keep everyone in a safe plastic bubble. It may seem absurd, but sadly, it seems necessary. 

[FractalMoon 378]

To offer the other side of the argument, I have a story to share about this. My best friend in elementary school was running around campus when he tripped and cracked his skull on a concrete divider. He was in the hospital for two weeks and almost suffered severe brain damage (he's still one of the smartest people I know.) These sorts of things are rare, but when it comes down to reducing childhood obesity slightly (which could be counteracted by parents taking an active role and actually sending their kids outside for once,) and preventing someone from possibly dying from an accident. I agree that pain is part of learning and growing up (soldering irons are painful is a lesson I've learned many times), but from a risk-reward standpoint there's no reason schools should waste their greatly limited budgets on supporting such a dangerous form of entertainment. Also, it's called a 'zero-tolerance policy' for a reason.

[Troblems 5,617]

I'm not even a parents and this makes me angry. It's a known fact that kids learn the most from other kids, and limiting recess in any way is just harming future generations. When I was a kid, we used to play butts up. If you don't know what it is, it involves hurling a tennis ball as hard and fast as you could at a wall, which other kids were standing against. Now that was fun. Nerf balls just don't fly the same, and I don't ever recall anyone getting hurt.

 

Also, my husband grew over a foot in a year. He broke his arm falling because his bone density was so low. How are we going to prevent children hurting themselves? Children in bubbles? Wrap them in a protective coating? Protective coating is known to the state of California to cause cancer, so that's out too.

 

They should all just sit at their desks quietly until their bones and muscles atrophy to the point that they can no longer walk. That'll learn those kids.

[Alexander Atkin 9]

An August report from child safety nonprofit Safe Kids Worldwide found 1.35 million emergency room visits each year are caused by sports, the most common being strains, sprains, fractures, bruises and scrapes.

 

Who on earth goes to the emergency room with a strain, sprain, bruise or scrape?  Unless it actually needs stitches or you suspect something serious, what happened to a little first aid and sending on your way?  The US really IS different to the UK.

 

This is a complete contrast from my school where they didn't even send me to the hospital with a broken toe because "I could still bend it so it must be fine". 

 

There HAS to be some middle ground here and banning all potentially dangerous activities is not it.  I always refused to take part in sports at school because I sucked at them and feared teasing from the other kids, so recess was my only exercise during the day.

 

Are we really going to start sending kids to school in bubbles because the number of viruses caught at school increases?  Or stop sending them at all because they might get hurt on the way there and back? Where does the madness end?

 

I also fail to see how having a teacher present is going to make any difference.  Accidents don't necessarily happen because a child is being careless, they are just accidents.  I fear for the first teacher who gets sued for allowing a child to be hurt when there was nothing they could do about it.

Edited November 2, 2013 by Alexander Atkin

[FractalMoon 378]

Who on earth goes to the emergency room with a strain, sprain, bruise or scrape?  Unless it actually needs stitches or you suspect something serious, what happened to a little first aid and sending on your way?  The US really IS different to the UK.

 

This is a complete contrast from my school where they didn't even send me to the hospital with a broken toe because "I could still bend it so it must be fine". 

 

There HAS to be some middle ground here and banning all potentially dangerous activities is not it.  Are we really going to start sending kids to school in bubbles because the number of viruses caught at school increases?  Or stop sending them at all because they might get hurt on the way there and back? Where does the madness end?

The main reason is overreaction to the injuries (Your football is a lot more low-impact than ours.) It stems from a "better safe than sorry" attitude toward danger. 

[DenialZombie 82]

I don't think this is about the kids at all. This is about the school covering its ass against parents who want to blame school for their kid getting hurt while playing. How many lawsuits does it take to draw an organization down to any level? If even one parent thinks that their child should be insulated against all types of harm at school, than the school must take precautions against exactly that, because that parent is a liability, especially when no kid is going to say its their fault, kids always blame someone else. It all comes down to "You weren't watching him!" "Your playground isn't safe!" "This is the school's fault" and then "I demand action!" or, conversely, "I demand compensation!".

 

This has been going on for a while. Decades, in fact. I first heard about schools banning Tag 20 years ago when I was still in school. It's about liability. It's always been about liability. It will always be about liability. The school most likely KNOWS DAMN WELL that this is dumb as hell, but what can they do? If it holds up in court that the child's physical well being is the school's responsibility, and they only have a budget for standard classroom education, with little or no room, then they MUST try to eliminate injuries by any means within reason.

 

There is no easy solution to this. At some point, someone needs to write inherent risk into law, and force people to admit that kids hurt themselves ALL THE TIME. Until that happens, the kids and schools can't do anything. Even the other 99% of parents with sensible reactions and reasonable understandings of the situation can't stop the 1% from ruining it for the rest of us.

 

Still, did you only play during recess? Sure, I learned that I can run pretty fast and like soccer at recess, but I did all kinds of other things after school. It's a travesty, but not the end of the world.

 

If you want to start a petition, petition for a law stating that injuries incurred during recess are not the school's responsibility, thus relieving them of total liability. Then again, if not the school's, then who's responsibility is it? Catch 22. No way out. This too shall pass... until the next time it happens.

Edited November 2, 2013 by DenialZombie

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,824]

 

Oh boy...oh boy! Here we go again! Seriously, what in the hay do people do these days? You do realize that by banning recess, your only making obesity worse and schools do require physical education. 

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 41,619]

Well, the American public educational system is pretty much all about getting kids ready for a life of servitude in a job that they hate and for a pay they cannot even live off of. This is no surprise to me at all. Kinda surprised they didn't do it sooner. Sooner or later, there will be no recess to speak of. Life isn't about fun, it is about work work work and making those corporations richer.

[Shanks 10,816]

Well, the American public educational system is pretty much all about getting kids ready for a life of servitude in a job that they hate and for a pay they cannot even live off of. This is no surprise to me at all.

Yep and they are counting on people to be stupid enough to accept this yet smart enough to still work in said servitude. The sad thing is that people call this the free market when it has nothing to do with a real free market, giving big corporations kickbacks, bailouts and subsidies sound a lot more like fascism to me. The good news is people are waking up to this, though not as quickly as I would like. The whole recess restriction thing is just more social control.

[Sweet Dreams 1,893]

What?....

These people are pushing children in the wrong direction, I swear... By doing this, they're taking away their learning experiences. Kids should be allowed to learn from their mistakes. Them getting seriously hurt isn't a good thing, but they take away the benefit of realising what they did was wrong and learning the boundaries they need to set for themselves so they aren't hurt again. Kids need to learn to set 'rules' like that themselves if they aren't willing to risk getting hurt. The school can't keep the kids locked in a little 'safe sanctuary' forever; one day they'll go out into the real world filled with risks and they won't have a clue how harmed they can get until they find out the hard way.