Discovery Canyon Campus, an elementary school in Colorado, has banned the game of tag from being played by students. Following the example of other schools like Willett Elementary School in Massachusettes, Cindy Fesgen, the assistant principal, says that the activity causes too much conflict. Fesgen says that students can still play running games just as long as they aren't chasing each other. Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you eliminate all games that include tagging or chasing others when you run, aren't you just left with pretty much the game of Run?
Think about it. You run in pursuit of others in football, basketball, baseball, racing, kickball, and soccer. I hope these schools have LOTS of swings and tether ball poles. What are we trying to do to our children? When I was little, recess was the part of the day I looked forward to the most and all the games I played involved some form of physical chasing, tagging, or public ridicule to some degree. This is what builds up the character of our kids. We can't be so afraid as adults that our kids might get hurt feelings, or experience failure, etc, that we start eliminating experiences that could also be positive for them.
If we aren't careful, we are going to end up turning all of our kids into pansies. Of course we want to teach our children to avoid unnecessary conflict, but not at the cost of being afraid of it at times in their life when it is needed. Let's choose not to breed passivity into our children's character and put tag and other chasing games like it back on these playgrounds where they belong.
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