My children enjoy school, and there are very few days when they come off the school bus with complaints about the rules set forth by teachers and administrators. Except for this year. On a weekly basis, my daughter returns home in a foul mood, frustrated and angry about the decisions teachers make with regards to what students can and can’t do on the playground. She and her classmates grumble to each other, and rightfully so, because they don’t think it is fair that they are unable to play tag anymore during recess. I whole-heartedly support her gripe. In our school division, recess was shortened to adjust for any time lost due to inclement weather—they only get 15-20 minutes daily for outdoor play—and now teachers are sitting students down and giving them modified rules of traditional games such as tag (my daughter’s third grade class can only play tag with a two-finger touch while my son’s fifth grade class is completely banned from playing tag), and not permitting them on certain playground equipment, which means my daughter and her friends can’t play a running game they invented called “lava monster.”
I am not sure I fully understand the rationale behind banning tag, a game all of us played as children and loved (except, you know, for the person who always seemed to wind up being it). I assume it is for children’s safety, and fear of someone getting hurt and taking someone to court. But here’s the thing. Children fall down and get hurt. It’s part of learning and growing. When either of my children fall, I don’t rush to their aid right away.
I let them decide for themselves how badly they are hurt. Most times, they just brush it off and resume activity.
If they need a band-aid, I will provide one and then send them off to play again. When I was their age (like most of their teachers), my sisters, friends and I spent a majority of our time outside, playing all sorts of running games: hide and seek; kick the can; jailbreak; and variations of tag (regular tag, freeze tag, TV tag). And I certainly don’t recall any teachers on the playground at all, let alone telling us what we could or couldn’t do. In an age where childhood obesity is a serious problem, gym class and recess are being eliminated, and kids prefer video games and cell phone use to being outdoors, why teachers would restrict and discourage children from free play is beyond me.
I can’t offer a reasonable explanation to my children regarding something that also baffles my mind, but I can allow them to play tag at home. In our backyard, they most certainly can play tag; run around; and use anything at their disposal to play, use their imaginations, create, laugh, and have fun. In our backyard, they are allowed to be kids.