Elementary Principal Bans Playing Tag During Recess

For generations children have looked forward to recess in the middle of the day, to give them a chance to shake off the tedium of classes by getting some fresh air and running around outside. But in today’s society, it appears that their reasons for running around outside are getting fewer and farther between, unless they’re being chased by the cops.

Students at Willett Elementary School in Attleboro, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, can no longer play tag during recess. Principal Gaylene Heppe, who is in her second year as principal at the school, has made it clear that children will get in trouble if they try to play tag. The same goes for touch football and any other unsupervised games where kids chase each other around.

Heppe says that there is too much risk of injury to children when they play games like tag. School officials are afraid that if someone gets hurt, the school might get sued. Our litigious society has reached yet another plateau of ridiculousness.

Debbie Laferriere, who has two children who attend Willett Elementary, said that playing tag is a normal part of being a kid, and she doesn’t understand the ban. She told the Sun-Chronicle of Attleboro that unsupervised games help children develop social skills that will serve them well for the rest of their lives. "I think it’s unfortunate that kids’ lives are micromanaged, and there are social skills they’ll never develop on their own," Laferriere told the paper.

According to the paper, Willett Elementary isn’t the only school to regulate outdoor games. Schools in Spokane, Washington, and Cheyenne, Wyoming have also banned tag at recess. A school in Charleston, South Carolina, banned not only tag, but all unsupervised contact sports such as dodgeball, saying that contact games can be dangerous to children.

"I think it’s a little bit silly," said parent Christine McAndrews. "The kids love to play pickup football games that they organize themselves. It’s great for their social skills, and they resolve things on their own. It’s good for them."

But another parent went on the record to say that she supports anything that makes playgrounds safer. Celeste D’Elia said that she’s witnessed a lot of "near collisions" between children playing.

The medical community is screaming at the top of their lungs about the rising concerns over childhood obesity. You’d think that schools would be doing whatever they could to encourage children to play games where they chase each other around outdoors. But instead, schools have to worry about an overprotective parent hauling them into court because of their child getting knocked down.

So rather than standing up for the health of children and the life lessons and social skills afforded them by playing a good old fashioned game that generations of kids have played, principals such as Gaylene Heppe have decided it's more important to avoid lawsuits by saying kids can get hurt playing tag.