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When I was a kid, I got hurt a lot. Not as much as my brother did, but I swear to you it seemed that my knees were always scabbed and I always had scrapes and bruises everywhere. My brother was even worse. It’s a miracle we both escaped with no broken bones. I always thought this was a normal part of growing up: falling off of bikes, out of trees, tripping on the playground… it was a good thing, unless you want your kid to be a little pansy who’s terrified of bumping into the sofa on his way to bed.
And apparently, that’s exactly what the educrats at the John F. Kennedy Primary School in Washington (the U.K.) are aiming for. Sack races and three-legged races have been banned because… children could fall down. And we all know, that would be a CATASTROPHE.
The sack race and three-legged race have been banned from a school sports day because the children might fall over and hurt themselves.
Parents and campaigners described the move as “completely over the top”. Teachers at John F. Kennedy Primary School in Washington dropped the events after discussions with Beamish Open Air Museum, where the Edwardian-themed sports day is being held today.
About 375 children are dressing up in period costume for the event. Running, hopping and throwing table-tennis balls into buckets will be allowed.
Laura Midgley, founder of the Campaign Against Political Correctness, said: “It’s health and safety rules gone mad. I think it’s completely over the top. The worst thing that could possibly happen is the children fall over.”
Simon Woolley, head of education at Beamish in Co Durham, said: “We looked at a three-legged race and a sack race but what we want to do is minimise the risk to the children. We thought we would be better to do hopping and running instead because there was less chance of them falling over.”
Now, someone explain to me what the big deal is about a kid falling over. Please, make me understand because I just don’t get it. The nannyfication of that country must be near complete for the madness to have gotten this out of hand. I mean, for heaven’s sake. Maybe from now on we should just have all children only leave the house if they’re clad in their protective bubble, a la John Travolta. Will that finally satisfy the terrified parents who will stop at nothing until the pansification of our children is complete?
Hat Tip: Wizbang
When my son was 2 years old, we were walking home from the playground and he fell down. There was a slight bleed from the palm of his hand. Of course, he started crying.
I didn’t do the “kiss it and make it better” routine. What I did was help him get up, and then I informed him, in no uncertain terms, that if he falls, then the rule is that he has to get up again.
We walked the block-an-a-half home, I washed his hand and stopped the bleeding, and when my wife got home I told her about the incident, and reiterated the rule, in my son’s presence, that when you fall down, you must get up again.
Now, 17 years later, he has his Outward Bound pin from an expedition in the Canadian wilderness, he spent a year away from home in Jerusalem (where he had several occasions to be confronted by some unsavory characters), and actively trains in the martial arts. And he still knows the basic rule — When you fall down, you must get up again!!!
If they want to pansify all the children, they sure missed my son!
Lord help us. When my sister and I were kids, we lived in a two-story house. We used to practice falling down the stairs because we did it so often and didn’t want to get hurt. We’ve both got scars from falling down, falling off bikes, jungle gyms, climbing the rock wall at the back of the yard. We survived and thrived. Kids today won’t survive if they aren’t shown that they can get injured and keep on going. Naturally I’m not talking about serious injuries, but we used to sled down the middle of the street in the wintertime, occasionally running into cars. What can I say, we were crazy kids. But we survived.
Wayne says: In the local school district kids are not allowed to play tag, “red-rover”, etc. because these games foster “ill will” between students and “someone might get hurt”. Even the socker-pansies go too far. If a kid is performing too well he/she(s) taken out of the game. If the game gets too fast for the teacher/refs everyone is told to walk with the ball ….”no running” ! ! !
Teachers have lengthy classes on how to hug kids ! Can’t hug too long, can’t wrap more than one arm around a kid, what you can and cannot say. If a teacher saw a kid fall and told them to get up they’d probably be disciplined for their efforts. Can’t fire ’em for incompetence as a teacher but can for violations of “PC” !
WayneB says: Don’t forget that on top of them not wanting to ever, ever let children get a boo-boo, the lawsuit brigade is just as responsible for this.
Kid falls down, complains to his parents, who sue for big money, and even if the school wins the lawsuit, their legal costs are huge, so they will usually settle, setting a precedent, and making it that much easier the next time.
JoshS says: I think I would have to agreed with Wayne there; this really seems more likely like a fear of lawsuits.
What the heck did we do before we blamed everyone else for our troubles and demanded money for it? 😛
Rob Farrington says: Over here, horse chestnut trees are actually being cut down not only to prevent kids from having dangerous games of ‘conkers’, but just in case of the one in a billion chance that the poor souls might get concussed by falling nuts.
I’d love to see the elf’n safety brigade in the same room with the tree-hugging greenies and watch who’d manage to rack up the most points for political correctness. Now, where did I put that popcorn?
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