The truth about tag
"Principal Terren Roloff told Fox News she chose to ban tag because it encourages victimization."-Oct. 25th, 2006
I for one happen to agree with Principal Roloff. The game of "Tag" is an insidious element in our schools which thrives off of the coercion and victimization of innocent children and must be stopped. Unfortunately, tag itself is only a symptom of the larger issue. The game of tag is, in fact, only a more sophisticated version of the game, "Stop Touching Me, Mom She Keeps Touching Me", commonly learned among siblings in overcrowded backseats of motor vehicals all across America. This is behavior, like racism and drug abuse, first learned in the home. In the comming days, rational and responsible adults will have to face up to the truth that our cars and vans are breeding grounds for hate.
posted by Peter @ 7:13 AM
8 Comments:
I think attending school in general subjects yourself to victimization.
Hmm. They had me on dodgeball. Dodgeball is truly evil, in my opinion. Throw the ball as hard at you can at someone who's not paying attention (usually me). That's wrong.
But tag? Nah. I'm with you. It's silly.
Since when is "you're IT!!" an attack on someone?
Lisa
Rant-
The rest of that quote goes on to say that tag is not fair because once you're it you can't just say "I'm not playing" and walk away. I think that's true. What you CAN do is say "I'm not playing" and sit stay there. "I'm not playing" is a more affective tool than a fast pair of legs. It's the bait for tricking the physically superior. To me, tag is a necessary training ground to learning how to out-smart the bullies. The kids who never learn to out-smart a bully are the ones who really suffer.
Rant-pt. II
How do you enforce a ban on tag? It's barely a game to begin with. I think the enforcement of the ban would do more harm than just letting kids play.
I'm with you on dodgeball-- organized dodgeball. Dodgeball is not for the passive participant. but a pick-up game between a bunch of burgeoning meatheads is just what the doctor ordered. It let's athletic kids express themselves in what they're good at.
What games do youre kids like to play? I know I was all about some Ghost in the Graveyard.
Hi Peter, I agree. Though once you are tagged "It" you turn right around and you chase the other kids. You are taking your victim status and going on the offensive.
My little son is two and a half, so doesn't play any organized games yet. We try and have a "catch" with him. He doesn't seem to "get it." He just takes the ball and walks away. Come to think of it, maybe he gets it just fine and is taking your approach of tricking the physically larger.
My older stepson who is 15 plays video games online with a billion strangers and kicks their asses. And he likes to ski, bike and do other solitary sports that don't involve victimization come to think of it....
Lisa
Ghost in the graveyard sounds so familiar but I can't conjure up what it was....
I remember Red Rover send so and so right over and a huge fast kid would run right into my spaghetti arms and break through the weakest link in our human chain. Me. Wah! Put me on Oprah right away. Victim here!
sorry peter to take up so much space here...you have inspired my own rant.. but another aspect is if you take away tag, what will kids do with all that energy? Go home and shoot people on video games and channel it into "virtual" violence? He hee. On some level, we need to let kids be kids and run around and get out their spielkes (can't spell..yiddish word..)
"spielkes"--I can tell what your going for but my knowledge of yiddish, while formidable for a gentile, doesn't include that word. Is the word spiel, as in routine, yiddish? I suspect it is.
Anyway, take all the space you want. It makes my blog look more popular than it is. But, yeah, kids should run around more. I've never been a big video game guy so I'm kind ignorant as far as the psychological affects of playing violent shooting games. One thing I've observed is that the serious, obsessive "gamers" who play those violent video games tend to look past the vicarious, fantasy aspects pretty quickly and just concentrate on winning the thing. They're mostly just looking for a more challenging and sophisticated game. It's us casual observers who are struck by the surface violence of them.
Maybe we can use this argument to rid the world of vans and SUVs ...
screw that - kids gotta run to play tag- they sit on there ever expanding butts enough already.... make em run, make em run!!!1
Beth-I was thinking strapping children down with restraints, but I guess we could go your way too.
Shroom Monkey- But when your intimate with the true art of tag you can do a lot of standing.
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