Benching "Tag"

I read an item in the paper today, one that I had heard on the radio earlier this week. I didn't believe it. It seems that according to administrators at the Willett Elementary School, south of Boston, recess is dangerous. As a result, the school has cracked down on tag and other "chasing games." The district superintendent, quoted in the Attleboro Sun Chronicle, said "children's energies should be better directed toward good, sound, supervised play."

Outraged parents have risen in protest to the anti-tag policy. One mother suggested she might send her son to school wrapped in bubble wrap and sporting a helmet. Another mother has launched a "Keep Tag in Attleboro" petition drive.

The story has caught national attention and one wonders why the laser focus on such a subject. The problems in the American educational system have little to do if children expend excess energy on the playground at lunchtime. Of course, we have become such a litigious society that the rule enforcement comes up now as the district is afraid of a lawsuit.

As a former teacher, I really object to this. There are more than enough problems IN the classrooms of America that worrying about a half hour on a playground should be far, far down the list. In the wake of so much recent school violence, I am sure there are those that believe that "tag" is surely the first step toward something worse. Please.

Let's try paying our teachers a little more, lower class size, and hey, here's a novel concept, stop letting parents use our schools as depots for their kids. Their responsibilities don't end when the parents drop them at the door. Stay in contact with your kid's teachers, get involved in their educations, make it a priority. Perhaps kids will start to do better if the parents make the effort as well.