Discovery Campus Canyon elementary school in Colorado Springs, Colorado recently banned the game of tag from its playground, citing that the game “causes a lot of conflict on the playground.” Apparently, a number of students complained that they were getting harassed and chased against their wishes.
I have three words for those kids: suck it up.
Conflict is a necessary part of life. Sure, you can complain to your parents and have them bully the school board into stopping teachers from grading in red ink or banning physical games from the playground, but that’s not going to happen when you go out in the real world (read: college and later). Boss being unreasonable? Dorm roommate being too obnoxious? Nothing your parents can do about stuff like that.
The problem with most modern parents is that they’re too protective about their kids. Yes, that’s nice at times, but you can’t insulate your kids forever. One way or another, they’re going to hear the f-word, or they’re going to get sick, or (heaven forbid) they’re going to see a naked woman or man. That’s life. Being overprotective is actually a bad thing. Why do so many kids have allergies these days? Their living environments are too clean. Without any every day germs, kids can’t build up their immune systems to protect themselves from common allergies and colds (not to mention the really nasty stuff). It’s healthy for kids to play in the mud (and possibly eat it). It’s healthy for them to skin their knee chasing someone else. It’s healthy for them to play tag.
The sooner people understand all that, the sooner I can stop rolling my eyes reading about wimpy school boards caving to overprotective parents who survived red ink on their test papers, being chased on the playground, and, oh yeah, walking to school up hill both ways in the snow and/or rain. They survived that stuff, so their kids can, too.
