Tag-free zone in Attleboro

Officials at the Willett Elementary School in Attleboro have banned playground tag, touch football and any other unsupervised chasing games over concerns about the risk of injury and liability for the school.

"It's a time when accidents can happen," Principal Gaylene Heppe said.

Name me a time when accidents can't happen.

Elementary schools in Cheyenne, Wyo., and Spokane, Wash., banned tag at recess this year. A suburban Charleston, S.C., school outlawed all unsupervised contact sports.

Great -- the idiocy is contagious.

"I think that it's unfortunate that kids' lives are micromanaged and there are social skills they'll never develop on their own," said Debbie Laferriere, who has two children at Willett. "Playing tag is just part of being a kid."

However, Celeste D'Elia, another Willett parent, said her son feels safer because of the rule.

"I've witnessed enough near collisions" in the playground area, D'Elia said. "I support anything that makes the playground safer and helps teacher to keep track of them."

How about manacles?

Attleboro is just up the road from here, but this article spotted via Joanne Jacobs.

Posted by David on October 19, 2006 5:34 PM