Posted on 12/15/2007 10:38:08 PM PST by fgoodwin
Children at Oakdale School here in southeastern Connecticut returned this fall to learn that their traditional recess had gone the way of the peanut butter sandwich and the Gumby lunchbox.
No longer could they let off youthful energy — pent up from hours of long division — by cavorting outside for 22 minutes of unstructured play, or perhaps a vigorous game of tag or dodgeball. Such games had been virtually banned by the principal, Mark S. Johnson, along with kickball, soccer and other “body-banging” activities, as he put it, where knees — and feelings — might get bruised.
Instead, children are encouraged to jump rope, play with Hula Hoops or gently fling a Frisbee. Balls are practically controlled substances, parceled out under close supervision by playground monitors.
The traditional recess, a rite of grade school, is endangered not only in Oakdale School here in Montville, a town of 18,500. From Cheyenne, Wyo., to Wyckoff, N.J., recess — long seen as a way for children to develop social competence, recharge after long lessons, and resist obesity — is being rethought and pared down.
Such changes worry educators like Joe Frost, professor emeritus of education at the University of Texas, who has spent 30 years researching children’s play. He defended the traditional recess as a way to give children the freedom to make their own choices and said that it was “terrible, ill-advised and damaging” to inject so much structure and oversight.
“Children need to engage in games such as this in order to develop social skills, to learn to handle themselves, to avoid obesity, and to get the activities they need, and these are traditional games, going on for centuries,” Dr. Frost said. “It’s just difficult to imagine how a person in education could come up with such a bad idea.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
iPod ping.
bump & a ping to another dumb idea in school
But this is what Liberals do. They suppress or control "harmful" activities - always for the "good" of the people whose freedom is being destroyed.
They punish (or try to punish) smoking, driving big cars, eating fast foods, saying bad words, hugging a child or spanking or yelling at one, "staring" (defined as looking in the wrong direction for 9 seconds) and legions of other things that used to be perfectly normal and a matter of individual choice.
There's an Isaac Asimov story. I think it's called "With Folded Hands" about what happens in a world where people are "protected" from everything bad. It should be required reading.
No, it's not.
game of tag or dodgeball. Such games had been virtually banned by the principal, Mark S. Johnson, along with kickball, soccer and other “body-banging” activities, as he put it, where knees — and feelings — might get bruised.
What the heck? This is going way overboard, this stuff is just as educational as the classroom.
>>There’s an Isaac Asimov story. I think it’s called “With Folded Hands” about what happens in a world where people are “protected” from everything bad. It should be required reading.<<
Not by Asimov. By Jack Williamson, published in 1947. A mssterpiece.
Maybe if they spent less time teaching about self-esteem and how to put on a condom, there’d be more time for recess. :)
My Goodness, this country is sick.
If this writer believes students are spending hours in school doing long division, she hasn't been in a school in the last 20 years.
“...as he put it, where knees — and feelings — might get bruised.”
What a Pussy. I wonder what size skirt this clown wears.
No, really, it’s Asimov. It was one of the robot stories and was referred to in later robot stories as the reason why the robots went underground.
I guess even suggesting that today would garner some poor kid a suspension.
Just when you think you've heard it all....
This sounds like the book *The Giver*
22 minutes?
22 minutes!
We got only 15. I want a do-over!!
>>No, really, it’s Asimov. It was one of the robot stories and was referred to in later robot stories as the reason why the robots went underground.<<
No, really, it was written by Jack Williamson. First published in 1947. I googled it right after I saw your first posting. Try googling it yourself (before correcting others).
“You will be happy, sir,” the mechanical promised him cheerfully. “We have learned how to make all men happy, under the Prime Directive. Our service is perfect, at last. Even Mr. Sledge is very happy now.”
—”With Folded Hands,” by Jack Williamson, 1947
I’ll take “What Happens When Pansies and Twinks Run Our Schools for $100 Alex”.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.