# School outlaws tag, touch football during recess **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 18, 2006, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-outlaws-tag-touch-football-during-recess/376943 "2006-10-18T14:36:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-outlaws-tag-touch-football-during-recess/376943/41 "2006-10-18T20:07:29Z")
In recess we used to play kill tag. Which was really just tag, but instead of just touching somebody you had to throw them to the ground for a tag. Also, full contact basketball. I think scores averaged like 4-2. Just getting a shot off was an accomplishment. This was in the late 90s too. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-outlaws-tag-touch-football-during-recess/376943/42 "2006-10-18T20:29:28Z")
What stupidity! :rolleyes: :dubious: When I was a kid, we had a game called “Smear the Queer.” Unfortunate name, but really it had nothing to do with sexual orientation, which we didn’t understand anyway. Basically, you tried to get the ball, any ball would do. Once you had it, everyone else (say, 5-15 kids) would use all available force to try to get it from you. It was blast. Yes, kids got hurt sometimes. Sometimes, they even had to go see the nurse (horrors!) No one got in trouble, no one was seriously hurt, no one’s parents were the least concerned. I’m 36; it wasn’t _that_ long ago. Are people really, truly, honestly so litigious that schools have to take such ludicrous precautions to protect themselves? I want to see some actual numbers, not principal (outraged parent-induced) paranoia. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-outlaws-tag-touch-football-during-recess/376943/43 "2006-10-18T20:31:38Z")
[QUOTE=Beadalin] Heh, that reminds me of the game we played called “War” in elementary school gym (early 80s for me). Remember those horrible little scooter things they had then? They were squares of wood with a wheel at each corner, and the wheels could go in any direction at any time (which made it easy to run over your own hand or the hands of your classmates, which was either a good or a bad thing, depending on how much control you had). [/QUOTE] A scooter? I’m not familiar with the term, but is it anything like a [mechanics creeper](http://www.ivica.com/images/AA/CM205.JPG)? ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-outlaws-tag-touch-football-during-recess/376943/44 "2006-10-18T20:32:39Z")
Aw, crap. Someone already mentioned “Smear the queer.” Oh, well. ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-outlaws-tag-touch-football-during-recess/376943/45 "2006-10-18T20:33:28Z")
[QUOTE=kaylasdad99] A scooter? I’m not familiar with the term, but is it anything like a [mechanics creeper](http://www.ivica.com/images/AA/CM205.JPG)? [/QUOTE] Yes, only much more ramshackle. Think of the rolly things that movers use–a couple two-by-fours nailed into a square with a little carpet for padding. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-outlaws-tag-touch-football-during-recess/376943/46 "2006-10-18T20:45:06Z")
Eep. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-outlaws-tag-touch-football-during-recess/376943/47 "2006-10-18T20:53:50Z")
> [@Draelin](#): > > Think of the rolly things that movers use–a couple two-by-fours nailed into a square with a little carpet for padding. Wow, you got carpet on yours? That’s deluxe. Ours were varnished wood. Looked a lot like this, only with not quite as nice: [Hot 80s Scooter Action](http://www.morleyathletic.com/images/M13636ANDM13637.jpg) And I forgot to mention in my post all the times I got “floor burn” from being dragged across the gym floor. Somehow getting layers of skin peeled off always hurt more than getting bleeding scrape. I know from vast experience with both. Back on topic (mostly): So here we are in a nation with rising obesity rates across the population, but most worryingly in kids. Doctors everywhere are recommending increased exercise for children, and schools are reducing recess time. And now I’m hearing that the recess time kids ARE getting is increasingly less active (no RUNNING? Holy shit!). It seems to me that there’s a huge disconnect between the best interests of children and the best interests of the school (although that’s an old, old story just taking new form). I feel rather bad for the teachers who must be dealing with REALLY restless children by the end of the day. Kids have energy to spare and it has to go somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-outlaws-tag-touch-football-during-recess/376943/48 "2006-10-18T21:14:31Z")
[QUOTE=Beadalin] Wow, you got carpet on yours? That’s deluxe. Ours were varnished wood. Looked a lot like this, only with not quite as nice: [Hot 80s Scooter Action](http://www.morleyathletic.com/images/M13636ANDM13637.jpg) [/QUOTE] Oh, _those_! We called ‘em “dollies,” which, of course, we were loathe to say. Pfft – playin’ with **dollies**. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![mrklutz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@mrklutz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrklutz)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-outlaws-tag-touch-football-during-recess/376943/49 "2006-10-18T21:16:00Z")
Oh god, the scooters. Ours were about 15" square. When the Scooters of Doom came out, you quickly learned that one of the main objectives of any game that involved them was keeping your fingers out from under the wheels of other scooters. And whaddaya know, we learned that. My favorite could-never-happen-today activity was in our winter wrestling unit in Phys Ed. (It was Iowa, where wrestling was the state religion.) Towards the end of the unit, as the kids were getting bored, the instructor assembled everyone on a huge gym mat with a circle on it. There were three rules: (1) you had to stay on your knees or lower, (2) you couldn’t actually _hit_ someone, and (3) if your feet touched the floor outside the circle, you were out. Last one in the ring wins. It didn’t take long for the smaller kids to learn that you had to gang up on the big guys early. Even then, I saw more than one small guy picked up above the head of one of the beefy kids and hurled bodily out of the ring. It was a blast! (And I actually won, once.) ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-outlaws-tag-touch-football-during-recess/376943/50 "2006-10-18T21:22:01Z")
[QUOTE=kaylasdad99] A scooter? I’m not familiar with the term, but is it anything like a [mechanics creeper](http://www.ivica.com/images/AA/CM205.JPG)? [/QUOTE] **Draelin** obviously enjoyed a more luxurious scooter than the kids at my old elementary school did. The gym (officially known as the “all-purpose room”) was in the basement, and the ceiling was maybe eight feet above the floor (not exaggerating – I went back to the school as an adult, and at 5’11", I could touch the ceiling by jumping about two inches off the floor). So the game of scooter basketball (see [this photo)](http://www.sanbornchristian.com/images/scooter%20basketball%2032.JPG) became a standard option for gym class, and there was even an annual faculty-versus-students game. However, the scooters used were just plain square blocks of polished wood attached to casters. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-outlaws-tag-touch-football-during-recess/376943/51 "2006-10-18T21:28:53Z")
They don’t use scooters anymore? We played scooter dodge ball and scooter soccer (much the same) and crab soccer (sans scooters,but fun any way). We played King of the Mountain-in which we hurled various smaller children off large dirt mounds (my street had a lot of construction when I was a kid); we played Ghost in the Graveyard and Kick the Can and Freeze Tag and “touch” football. I still have fond memories of my perfect pass to Wayne Boothby to score against Tim, Jimmy and Magaret. Ha! What about Crack the Whip? I’ve never heard of Buck buck, but we had other ways to lose skin on knees, get bloody noses and go home, aching from charley horses, twisted ankles and the like. I do think that kids today are a pampered lot. Go climb a tree! Go rollerskate on the sidewalk and skin your knee, please! But they don’t…\ I wanna a scooter and play another game of scooter dodge ball. That would be such fun! ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-outlaws-tag-touch-football-during-recess/376943/52 "2006-10-18T22:59:47Z")
I was in elementary school in the late 70’s / early 80’s, but we never had scooters. I can see where that would be seriously dangerous too. Some other wholesome activites we used to enjoy were jumping off my roof, having fights with gum tree balls (those spiky things) while one of us was on the top of a two-story garage, and having plain and simple rock fights. Good times, good times. That was better than the kids that had BB gun fights though. ---
**Author:** ![cj\_finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@cj\_finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cj_finn)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-outlaws-tag-touch-football-during-recess/376943/53 "2006-10-19T00:06:40Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] See, I think the lawsuits stem from the parents’ touchy-feely-keep-the-kids-from-conflict attitude. No one considered suing the school if a kid broke an arm in a touch-or-tackle football game back in the day. Parents either want to make a few bucks or they can’t bear the thought of Little Anglepuss getting an owie. Either way, it’s not cool. [/QUOTE] Now keep in mind that this is not a new phenomenon. Tackle football was banned on our playground in 1979 (very rural Wisconsin) as the result of a broken arm. Given that I can still hear the ‘crack’ of my friend’s arm, it is not such a big deal. We played a very rough form of touch thereafter. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-outlaws-tag-touch-football-during-recess/376943/54 "2006-10-19T00:11:52Z")
> [@furt](#): > > Played it by this name every day in recess during the late 70s in Absecon. Absecon, NJ? I’ll be dogged, I grew up next door to that place, but my recess days were 5–10 years before yours. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-outlaws-tag-touch-football-during-recess/376943/55 "2006-10-19T00:21:15Z")
its all about insurance and then money. Your kid comes home from school bashed up a bit and there’s an opportunity for a lawsuit, more likely settlement. That’s where we are today.The lawyers win and the kids lose. Money, money, money. And the next generation are a bunch of candyasses. ---
**Author:** ![MaddyStrut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dbc845/32.png) [@MaddyStrut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaddyStrut)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-outlaws-tag-touch-football-during-recess/376943/56 "2006-10-19T00:22:49Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] Oh, and WhyKid’s school banned running, pushing, tag, jumping and most ball sports during recess a few years ago. I asked him what they do, and he said they’re supposed to stand there and talk. Mostly they hang out with the cop who works at the school and take turns being handcuffed for fun. Yeah, seriously. [/QUOTE] How the hell do teachers keep anyone’s attention in class when the kids don’t get a chance to go out, run around, and burn off some energy? Sheesh, the kids must be bouncing off the walls! Maybe recess is easier to handle, but the discipline problems in class have got to be incredible! [QUOTE=eleanorigby] We played King of the Mountain-in which we hurled various smaller children off large dirt mounds (my street had a lot of construction when I was a kid); we played Ghost in the Graveyard and Kick the Can and Freeze Tag and “touch” football. [/QUOTE] We played all those games. I loved King of the Mountain. We’d get a lot of snow on the playgrounds in winter (this was in a town on Lake Michigan), and the plows would come through and build giant mountains of snow to play on. I remember being tackled and knocked for a loop off those things many a time. I also got some good tackles in myself. Then there was the good, old fashioned snow ball fights. We’d clobber each other with those snow balls! I still remember how to pack them so they’d really carry a whallop! The most dangerous thing we ever did probably was greasing the slides. We’d take the waxed paper from our lunch sandwiches and rub it all over the slides. We’d get those things all greased up and they were FAST! I think we’d hit warp speed coming down those slides. Of course, the sudden stop at the end wasn’t all that fun, but we kept doing it. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-outlaws-tag-touch-football-during-recess/376943/57 "2006-10-19T00:25:10Z")
When I was in Grade 7 or 8 (I can’t remember which) at St. Mary’s school in Kingston, Ontario, we once had an all-school game of full-contact Red Rover. This would have been the winter of 1984 I think. Eight classes, all grades five thru eight (two of each) on the school’s playground which was, in actual fact, an asphalt parking lot about fifty by thirty yards which might or might not have had a bit of snow cover on it, depending where you were standing. We started with exactly one person, and about two hundred kids ran across, and he tackled the bejeezus out of someone, and so it went for thirty minutes of blood and tears as the tacklers increased in number while the tacklees were beset upon one after another. Everyone had a fantastic time. The winner was borne from the parking lot on our shoulders, cheers ringing in everyone’s ears. This was a break from our usual winter sport of choice, full tackle football. Once, Brent Casey returned from class with my footprint clearly imprinted upon his ski jacket in snowy detail. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-outlaws-tag-touch-football-during-recess/376943/58 "2006-10-19T00:40:47Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] I’m with you on your theory. I think this whole atmosphere of “What about the chiiiiiildren” is ruining our society. When I was a kid, you’d BETTER fall off your bike and you BETTER deal with it or someone would have knocked you off it just to give you a taste of the real world! 😛 [/QUOTE] How do you deal with the fact that 39% of the deaths from bicycle accidents happen to children under 15 years old? [http://www.healthunit.org/injury/summer/bikehel.htm](http://www.healthunit.org/injury/summer/bikehel.htm) Even travelling at low speeds the head can hit the concrete with great force, due to the fact that forward momentum is transfered into rotational momentum. Helmets are only unnecessary for those whose heads are considerably harder than asphalt. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-outlaws-tag-touch-football-during-recess/376943/59 "2006-10-19T00:55:32Z")
Besides, there’s a difference between requiring a little more protective equipment for kids’ play and simply banning the play altogether. Protecting your head when you fall off your bike is fine. Never getting to ride a bike at all because there’s a chance you might fall off is not fine. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-outlaws-tag-touch-football-during-recess/376943/60 "2006-10-19T01:42:26Z")
[QUOTE=Kimstu] Besides, there’s a difference between requiring a little more protective equipment for kids’ play and simply banning the play altogether… [/QUOTE] But they’re not, > [@](#): > > **From the OP’s cite,** > Officials at an elementary school south of Boston have banned kids from playing tag, touch football and any other **unsupervised** chase game during recess… [RIGHT] **Bold** =CMC[/RIGHT] (yet), and they’re not banning contact sports during recess, > [@](#): > > **From the OP’s cite,** > …While there is no districtwide ban on contact sports during recess… (yet). Seems to me that, unsupervised + elementary school kids + on school property, during school hours + in loco parentis = a really bad idea. CMC fnord! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-outlaws-tag-touch-football-during-recess/376943.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-outlaws-tag-touch-football-during-recess/376943.md?page=4)