Big Fight on the Playground (Parents Protest as Schools Take the Play Out of Recess)

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ^ | Friday, October 10, 2003 | LAUREN LIPTON

[TheBigB]

kids play something called Sushi, like dodgeball except they throw balls at a wall

Gee, that sounds...like...fun.

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[Skooz]

LOL!

Man, oh man, I'm glad I grew up in the '60s and '70s and had FUN at recess.

[scab4faa]

Such a sad world we have made for our kids.. =(

[Orangedog]

Just one of many reasons to vote against ANY school levy and start pushing congress to actually CUT "education" spending. And none of these fake baseline cuts, where they only reduce the amount of previously planned growth, but REAL cuts, where fewer dollars are spent currently than were spent in the previous year.

[KarlInOhio]

Bradley and his third-grade friends played "store" on the field, using sticks for merchandise and leaves for money. This year, they play in the bus-turnaround area -- which Bradley says doesn't have enough leaves.

Alan Greenspan Elementary School? Let's play deflation.

[ConservativeDude]

This fall, Ms. Walmsley took action, and now Brett spends his afternoon recess inline skating, playing kickball or riding his bike. A new school policy? Nope. "I started home-schooling him," she says.

WELCOME ABORD MS. WALMSLEY! SORRY IT TOOK YOU SO LONG!

[meowmeow]

I'm guessing no one plays Smear the Queer with the Football anymore. Glad I grew up in the 60s-70s too!

[toast]

Brings back memories of "Kill the Carrier".

A game in which about 50 kids chased 1 kid with a football until he was chased down, tackled, and pummelled until he lost his grip on the ball.

The kid that managed to take it away would be given about a 2 second head start before he was given the same treatment.

The masters of the game were either fast or could take quite a beating.

Loads of exercise and also fun in the snow.

[toast]

Ahhhh.

You remember.

[retrokitten]

From Acme, Wash., to Long Island, N.Y.,........

Ahh..Acme, Washington...makers of fine anvils and the best dynomite anywhere in the world.

[IowaHawk]

Welcome to "education" 2003: organized recess, unorganized math class.

[liberty or death]

Remove your kids from the public brainwash camps and Home school them.
The problem is most parents use the school as a free daycare.

[TheBigB]

Oh man, I remember that too. Loads of fun. Bruises, cuts, and scrapes. But fun. I worry we're raising a generation of wimps and whiners.

[dead]

I just found out my four-year-old son will have to leave his 6-inch plastic "ninja knives" home when he goes to his pre-K halloween party dressed as a Ninja Turtle.

Apparently, they'll scare the teachers.

[Catphish]

We called it "kill the guy with the ball" - which sumed up the rules quite nicely. :)

[azcap]

Smear the Queer and Dodgeball. Without them a generation is lost.

[blackdog]

The days of spending every day after school and all summers riding bikes is over too. On a summer day we used to log 40 miles on our bikes! Every day! We used to ride our bikes to school and home from school. Busses were for pussies. From the ages of six to thirteen, life is to be spent rolling on rubber being pushed by peddals. That is until our safety was legislated without any regard for it's practicality in it's compatability with a normal healthy childhood.

Now nobody rides bikes. Our local district forbids it. Kids less than a quater mile from school have to ride the bus each day. Should a nice situation present itself after school to ride your bike, you face citations and fines to your parents if not wearing enough personal protection gear. Helmets, elbow pads, and knee pads. An inspection sticker from the town indicating you bike registration has been paid, and who knows what else?

And they can't figure out why kids are lazy and fat?

[dead]

Smear the Queer? Kill the Carrier?

LOL! In NJ, we called it “Kill the Guy With The Ball.”

And our playground wasn’t paved, it was gravel. If you had the ball, you ran like you meant it.