Washington State school district bans tag

The signs outside a district elementary school encourage students to join sports teams, but advise that playing tag on the playground is no longer allowed during recess.

To the delight of parents, by Friday, September 25, the scrutiny brought the school district to a decision to end the ban.

Needless to say, many parents were flabbergasted by the extreme response to the venerable schoolyard game. “The rationale behind this is to ensure the physical and emotional safety of all students”, Mary Grady of the Mercer Island School District told Q13 Fox News.

But parents say the kids were specifically told not to play tag.

The school district released a statement that reads in part, “during recess and unstructured time, students are expected to keep their hands to themselves”. Kids these days aren’t playing outside like we did back in the day (darn those addictive video games).

The Mercer Island School District is banning the game of tag on the playground!

The woman who created STAR Michigan, Melissa Neher, has two kids who attend Mercer schools.

One mom has now even taken to Facebook, petitioning against this move.

It’s a game that nearly every person has played at one time or another.

Bemused mother Kelsey Joyce criticised the school’s decision, claiming that generations have played the game in the past without any issues.

It does seem many schools are overregulating students’ behavior to the point of not letting them be kids.

“In addition, elementary principals will seek student input and feedback on these expectations to demonstrate ownership in their learning”.

The return of tag is good news for Joyce’s children; her son and his friends play four different types of tag, including a version involving a hot-lava monster.

The only difference I can find behind this kind of hypocrisy is that they charge students $190 per sport in order to participate (this fee was recently raised $15 – perhaps that will go to counseling for the players – they likely will suffer emotional damage from all the rough play, right?).

Yahoo Parenting reports that Kyle Snow from the National Association for the Education of Young Children said that “schools need to balance concern for children’s well-being with the freedom for them to learn and experience the world”.

But parents aren’t quick to accept the new approach to recess.