Bum's Bluff

Depriving our children of pain

I had to read this article three times before I could digest it and believe it. Tag is now a prohibited activity?

I know the school is claiming a liability issue, but if that is the case then would public parks and owners of vacant lots be facing the same crisis?
I was going to dismiss this as an over-reaction to insurance fears (of which schools certainly have a legitimate concern), until I read the next part about the same school banning Dodgeball because it is exclusionary.

As a certified Elementary School small for my age wimp, I think this is incredibly wrong. This school is not protecting its financial butt from law suits -- they are instead trying to make sure no ones feelings get hurt. That is possibly the greatest disservice one can do to a child is to protect them from "safe" failures so that they learn how to handle real life failures when they really matter.

The fact that I was one of the last chosen for kick ball teams or impromptu football games on the playground hurt my feelings. Though I have repressed the memory as best I can, I'm pretty sure I even had some tears one time and got laughed at for being a cry baby. I knew at the time that I wasn't going to be rescued by a teacher unless there was blood - and then only if it looked like the bigger kids weren't going to let up on their own. So did society wrong me? Should my parents have sued the school?

Umm - no. In fact, I learned a hell of a lot from those experiences. I learned how to handle pain. I learned how to accept occasional failures with humilty and resolve to better myself for the next time. I learned how to avoid getting into situations that were going to be doomed to failure and how to gracefully get out of them when aviodance was impossible.

I made friends with some of the bigger kids so I wouldn't always be singled out as the kid to pick on. I learned to use intelligence and humor since I didn't have brawn on my side. I practiced kicking that damn ball against a fence until I was confident that I wouldn't miss and fall on my but anymore. I also learned how to play dodgeball quite well -- I didn't have the arm strength to nail anyone, but I could dodge better than most. Most importantly, I learned how to take a bad experience, analyze it, and figure out how to do better next time.

Now this school is trying to take that away from children. If I was a parent of a child there, I'd sue them!

posted by Walton @ 10:42 AM