Colorado Elementary School Bans "Tag"

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In a letter sent home to parents, it was said that the ban has been put in place for the safety of the children.

"Students are still allowed to run races or run with their friends, but no tagging," the letter said.

According to the DenverPost.com article, none of the schools that Fegson has worked with in 20 years has allowed such activities during recess. Parents with children who attend the school have mixed feelings on the ban.

"It's ridiculous," said parent Gina Casimiro.

Casimiro has a third-grader at the school and a sixth-grader at the middle school on the shared campus.

Jacob Hein, a fifth-grader, said kids played tag last year and they continue to play football on the playground.

"It's really unacceptable," Jacob said of the ban. "Last year, we did it all the time."

But Melody Hatten, who has two children at the school, supports the measure.

"I think it's a fine decision," Hatten said. "I think there are a lot of other things they can do on recess that is more constructive."

According to district spokesperson Nannette Anderson, it's the school's prerogative to set the rules they want and that parents can take up the matter at the school level.

Ok, I can understand that some kids might tag a little harder than others -- so you tell your kids not to play tag with those kids if it bothers them. But recess is a time for kids to have a break from learning and just unwind. It's a decompression period, if you will. To support a ban like this and then say that kids can do "more constructive things" with their recess baffles me. What constructive things are kids supposed to do during their play time? Quantum Physics?

This is getting ridiculous. First, they ban any and all games that involve pretend shooting with a forefinger and thumb (cowboys and indians, for example), going so far as to suspend elementary students caught playing those games. Then they ban dodge ball in some schools. Now tag? TAG? Are you kidding me? Next year, recess will be a period in which all students will be required to sit on mats on the playground in the Lotus position, meditating on all that they will learn that day. When did it become a bad thing for kids to behave like kids?