Some northern Virginia elementary school students are getting a time-out from tag.
The principal of Kent Gardens Elementary School told students this month that they are not allowed to play the game of chasing and yelling "You're it!" at recess after determining the playground pastime had gotten out of hand.
In a letter to parents, Principal Robyn Hooker says, "Because of more injuries on the playground, games such as tag and touch/tackle football will not be permitted at this time."
Kent Gardens School officials say tag has turned into bullying-a rougher game called jail house where kids are being forced to the ground and held down and parents are speaking out.
"We are regulating the fun out of normal childhood activity," said Jan van Tol, father of a Kent Gardens sixth-grader. "In our effort to be so overprotective, we are not letting children be children."
"If anyone's getting hurt, then clearly the teachers and the administration has to take care of it," said parent Norma Grobman.
Parent, Houman Asady partly agrees saying, "Kids should do physical activities. I think it should be supervised, not banned."
And parent, Chris Delta says the school should, "Deal with it another way and bring parents into the process."
"I know they're trying their best, and I know they're main goal is to keep the students safe," said parent Robyne Davis.
Fairfax County (web|news) public schools' office of risk management has a list of activities that are prohibited at any school-sponsored events. Besides bungee-jumping and scuba diving, students are not permitted to break dance or play dodge ball or tug-of-war. Restrictions on tag are less common.
"This is not the old-fashioned tag, where you could use two fingers and you would be it and move on to someone else," Hooker said. The game has become much more aggressive, she said, and involves grabbing people who do not necessarily know they are playing and possibly bumping them to the ground.
"They pile on each other. (Sometimes) they call it 'jail house' or 'jailbreak,"' because the child has to break out, she said.
And according to student Mason Davis, age six, not everyone plays by the rules saying, "People get kicked in the face."
Other students, however, are not so excited about the new ban.
"I was really sad because we play it every day at recess and it's really fun," said student Cayla Davis.
"Everyone's still playing it in my class, because they're really upset about it, but they're playing more safely," said student Mara Delta.
Since the ban on tag began, physical education teachers have begun a "chasing, fleeing and dodging" unit in first through fifth grades. Students essentially play variations of tag, and the teachers remind them about safety rules and point out athletic skills they can transfer to other sports.
Stephanie Sullenger, president of the Kent Gardens PTA, supports the principal. Sullenger said she suspects that children are acting out because of "spring fever," and that tag will be restored as their behavior improves.
The school says a safety and discipline committee made up of ten parents and teachers will decide when students can return to the playground and play that game of tag.
Information from: The Washington Post
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