It’s tough being a kid. Especially today. Each day, my kids come home and tell me a about a new rule they have discovered on the playground. “The playground balls, (bought by the PTO years ago) cannot be used on the playground.” There is a new sign-out procedure for kids who want to come home for lunch — (no more just bringing a note from mom, and you’re on your way. Now it’s complicated.) Our school is located in an older neighborhood, and so there is minimal playground area… there are shifts and designated areas. “You can’t run on the asphalt.” (Knowing there is minimal space, why did you install it?) On rainy days, they can’t play on the field because they can get too muddy. “We’re not allowed to play ball tag because someone might get hit by the ball.” The kids who give up on the rules, because they’re just too complicated, stand on the sidelines and get out their game-boys. Ooops…. they are banned from the school this year too — along with all electronics. If you play in orchestra, you loose two lunches recesses every week. Â Some days, I just want to grab the boys and their friends and throw them into my car so they can play in our own backyard for at least 40 minutes, and have a good old time. But, then I remember that there would be too many forms to fill out for…
Or maybe, they school just needs to invest in bubble wrap. They could buy it in bulk, along with all of that asphalt, and each day the aids could stand at the door of the playground and wrap each one up with duct tape and bubble wrap… so that no one gets hurt.
As a teacher I know this scenario only too well. In the UK, kids had to put on plastic gloves to pick up autumn leaves for art rubbings!! Here in Aus things are a little more sane (no running on the asphalt??????????)and we know kids will fall down, fall off and run into things. We have a sick bay and each teacher carries a little bag of alcohol swabs and bandaids. There are icepacks for everything (you think you may be pregnant? here, have an ice pack..)and occasionally kids have to be picked up by parents and taken to casualty because they have broken something. We allow a lot. I personally have a pet peeve though. I don’t allow unsupervised gymnastics on the edge of a stone bench.
“Are you gymnasts?” I ask the girls as their feet touch the earth again.
“Yes,” they reply.
“OK the, what is usually on the floor around you as you are doing handstands on the wooden (not stone) beam at the gym?”
“Mats” they say.
“See any here? Right. No handstands on the stone bench then thanks”
Because the one thing I can’t stand is the thought of some beautiful little girl knocking her front teeth out on the edge of a stone bench….
I hate dentists.