# Schools banning tag......ummm, huh??? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 19, 2002, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schools-banning-tag-ummm-huh/137566 "2002-11-19T18:03:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Judith\_Prietht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b19c9b/32.png) [@Judith\_Prietht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Judith_Prietht)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schools-banning-tag-ummm-huh/137566/21 "2002-11-19T21:09:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NDP \* > \*\*I wonder how long it will be before they ban two-square, four-square, and tether ball? > \*\* Tether ball is _vicious_. I saw more bloodied noses and bruised cheeks as a result of errant tether balls than any game of tag on my childhood playground. The bottom line is kids are cruel. They can ferret out perceived weakness and vulnerability like sharks smell mere drops of blood in an ocean. I agree with **Jack Batty** ; get to the root of what causes bullying and nip it in the bud there. But sadly, I’m not that optimistic. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schools-banning-tag-ummm-huh/137566/22 "2002-11-19T21:12:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\*neutron star: \*\*It was only 15 years ago that I was not only playing tag with the teachers’ approval, but playing ball tag! Heck, I remember playing _Murderball_ (sometimes called Dodgeball) in P.E. – never mind on the playground. It was required. I’m sure kids use rugby and field-hockey to dish it out from time-to-time… Should we ban all physical activity on schoolgrounds? Any game (with the possible exception of solitaire) can be wrecked by bullies. Crap, Tag isn’t even a _learned_ game, from what I can remember-- it’s just something kids do naturally, like eating boogers. I can understand being down on Pig-in-the-Middle, but _tag?_ ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schools-banning-tag-ummm-huh/137566/23 "2002-11-19T21:26:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by even sven \* > \*\*Imagine for a moment that you walk into work. And then your boss says those dreaded words. “Today we are going to get some fresh air, and play tag”. > > You run. But you are the only target. And your boss is sitting there looking at you so you can’t not play. Everyone is after you. Inevitably, you are tagged. Your keep running, but you can’t keep up. Your legs are a little to short, your breath a little to weak. You get within steps of your coworkers, and they sprint away. Everyone is focused on you. Everyone is laughing at you. You are the spectacle. You run and run and run until you are out of breath, completely humiliated. Every single person is watching you and laughing. Occasionally when no one is watching, someone will stick out a leg to trip you. Maybe you manage to tag someone else. It doesn’t matter. Everyone wants to make fun of you, so you are tagged again as soon as possible. Your cowokers arn’t interested in getting exersize. They are interested in singleing out a person and watching them break down. > > That is why I dreaded tag at PE. Tag allows one single person to become the focus of a very public humiliation. And unlike other more turn-based games, that humiliation can last the entireity of the game, and indeed, becomes the entirety of the game. > > It’s normal for kids to mean, but it is not normal for a kid to come home and tell her mommy that she would like to die. My mom heard that plenty. We don’t allow adults to harrass other adults. We don’t allow adults to publically humiliate kids. We don’t allow anyone to torture animals…so why do we sit back and let kids be cruel to kids. > > I’m not saying we have to ban tag. The problem goes deeper than a game, and the game itself isn’t the problem. Being hurt as a kid is just as painful and humiliateing as being hurt as an adult. It is not okay. It should not be allowed. Kids arn’t made of steel. They are not able to withstand any amount of torture. Kids break. I broke. When kids would do stuff to me that would get anyone else in the world arrested, and nobody cared, it tore me apart. \*\* Welcome to life. You know how you deal with the humiliation? Grow a spine. Better to learn it earlier then later that **LIFE IS NOT FAIR**. Children should not be shielded from this, because all it will do is create a generation of litigious little sissies who have never had to stand up for themselves, and will look to someone else (lawyer maybe) to clean up their mess. > [@](#): > > \*\*I was a suicidal child. Just as suicidal as you would be if your boss at work allowed and encouraged your co-workers to humiliate and harrass you without pause. No child should be subject to that kind of cruelity. And their pain should not be written off. \*\* I doubt any successful business would have that atmosphere present in the office, as it would be extremely unprofessional. If that was the case, I would look for another job, problem solved. I don’t mean to directly attack you, just your points. I’m sorry to hear about the things you went through. ---
**Author:** ![Judith\_Prietht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b19c9b/32.png) [@Judith\_Prietht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Judith_Prietht)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schools-banning-tag-ummm-huh/137566/24 "2002-11-19T21:28:45Z")
I recall tag began as “kissing cuters” or “kissing cooters” (which is, of course, much funnier than the former), where the girls chase the boys around and give them girl cooties by planting a big ol’ smacker on them. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schools-banning-tag-ummm-huh/137566/25 "2002-11-19T21:42:01Z")
> [@](#): > > I doubt any successful business would have that atmosphere present in the office, as it would be extremely unprofessional. If that was the case, I would look for another job, problem solved. Um, I think that’s precisely **evensven’s** point. Many children have to live with a level of physical and mental abuse that would NEVER be acceptable in the adult world, and they don’t have the option of looking for another job. Regardless, I don’t think banning tag will do a damn thing to discourage bullies – it will take much bigger changes in the school environment and in the way we raise children. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schools-banning-tag-ummm-huh/137566/26 "2002-11-19T21:58:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Judith Prietht \* > \*\*I recall tag began as “kissing cuters” or “kissing cooters” (which is, of course, much funnier than the former), where the girls chase the boys around and give them girl cooties by planting a big ol’ smacker on them. \*\* Unfortunately, my boss doesn’t make us play that. And I think that’s very cruel of him. Maybe I should sue? ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schools-banning-tag-ummm-huh/137566/27 "2002-11-19T22:04:51Z")
A child that derives “mental and physical” damage from sucking at tag, will most likely glean them from anywhere, and that is a problem that needs to be addressed in a totally different manner. There are so many dynamics at play, maybe the child deserves it? (unlikely but possible) Maybe he is over-reactiing? Etc, Etc. The point is we don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schools-banning-tag-ummm-huh/137566/28 "2002-11-19T22:07:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by even sven \* > \*\*We don’t allow adults to harrass other adults. We don’t allow adults to publically humiliate kids. We don’t allow anyone to torture animals…so why do we sit back and let kids be cruel to kids. > > I’m not saying we have to ban tag. The problem goes deeper than a game, and the game itself isn’t the problem. Being hurt as a kid is just as painful and humiliateing as being hurt as an adult. It is not okay. It should not be allowed. \*\* I’m going to have to disagree slightly here because I don’t like where this logic leads. The fact is we _do_ allow adults to harrass other adults - just not in the same way kids do. You may be singled out in the office with gossip, a telemarketer may call you repeatedly without your permission, a service industry job will put you in contact with plenty of irate customers who verbally abuse and harrass you, etc. Being singled out or hurt as a kid _is_ just as painful and humiliating as being singled out or hurt as an adult, that is true. However, it is through the pain we went through as children that we learn how to deal with the trials we will go through as an adult. A child needs to face some adversity in order to learn the self confidence, social skills, and to grow the thicker skin he or she is going to need as an adult. I’m talking about more than a simple “challenge” here - I’m talking about actual adversity. He or she needs to figure out how to live with the bullies rather than always expect an authority figure to intervene. Otherwise the child will grow into an adult that doesn’t even know the meaning of self-reliance and will call the cops over a small disagreement with a neighbor about whether or not petunias fit the neighborhood bylaws. Obviously there is a limit where an adult needs to intervene; no one is going to argue otherwise. However, I fear that the logic of the people who want to protect children from bullies and “low self esteem” will lead a “zero tolerance” system in which children are not taught the difference between minor bullying and major harrassment. My point here is a simple one: Though we should make sure they don’t bust their heads open, we must let children skin their knees occasionally - both physically and emotionally. ---
**Author:** ![Arden\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b487fb/32.png) [@Arden\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arden_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schools-banning-tag-ummm-huh/137566/29 "2002-11-19T22:16:31Z")
Of all the stupid things I have seen this week, this is the stupidist. I’m sure jacks will be next. Afterall, not every little darling has the same hand-eye coordination and those can’t play past onesies might develop low self-esteem. :rolleyes: People have just gotten fucking stupid. I was a suicidal teenager, hell, I still have moments when I think about it but I have kids, so it’s not an option. _But it’s not because I played Tag when I was 9!_ ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schools-banning-tag-ummm-huh/137566/30 "2002-11-19T22:19:31Z")
And don’t forget some kids can’t afford the nice marbles, strike that from the list as well. ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schools-banning-tag-ummm-huh/137566/31 "2002-11-19T22:22:46Z")
You know, where I went to school we had a rule about no tag-backs. And the strange thing is that, bullied as I was, I was not much of a target during tag. I was tagged rather rarely, and it wasn’t because I was El Speed Demon, either (I grew into my hips in high school). Paper can give you cut. I wonder if they’ll ban that next… ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schools-banning-tag-ummm-huh/137566/32 "2002-11-19T22:24:25Z")
Hell, I remember when we used to play dodge ball in gym-my friends and I used to get out on purpose so we could sit on the side and chit chat. I don’t think banning tag is the solution-although, since my mom is a playground aid, she would say the school might ban it if enough kids abuse the priviledge and use it to act like asshats. “Hey-we let you play tag, and you were jerks. So, you lose that priviledge. Tough shit, kid.” That sort of thing. You know, like they violated the rules, and this is a punishment. Although the tag on ONE VICTIM should be looked at very carefully. And I wouldn’t advise them to allow tag at a school that was maybe very large and short-staffed. If only to stop kids from being bullied. I dunno. ---
**Author:** ![RexDart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b77776/32.png) [@RexDart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RexDart)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schools-banning-tag-ummm-huh/137566/33 "2002-11-19T23:07:59Z")
I’m sure that when all those kids are being pursued at work by up-and-coming new hires gunning for promotions, they’ll be so glad they were insulated from the realities of competition. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2002, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schools-banning-tag-ummm-huh/137566/34 "2002-11-20T00:09:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Heck, I remember playing Murderball (sometimes called Dodgeball) in P.E. – never mind on the playground. It was required. Yep, we had that one too, but they called it Bombardment. We too were forced to play it in gym class. In a particularly vicious twist to the game, our gym teacher required us to line up against a brick wall and not move away from it. The people throwing the balls would only be 10-15 feet away. When a ball hit the wall right next to your ear, you’d think the world was exploding around you. Scary stuff for a seven-year-old. Then again, this is the same gym teacher who would pick kids up by their _ears_, and once made us run laps for a full hour (berating anyone who slowed down) just because we were shooting some hoops right before class when we didn’t have specific permission to do so. So yeah, I think this stuff can be taken a little too far in practice sometimes, but it does provide valuable (if painful) life lessons. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2002, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schools-banning-tag-ummm-huh/137566/35 "2002-11-20T00:12:36Z")
I’m wondering if any of the people in this thread saying stuff like what **RexDart** said were bullied. There is a VAST difference beween being picked on by friends and being out-and-out bullied. I’d rather have been physically kicked around than dealing with the verbal abuse that I got from about fifth through ninth grade. I wouldn’t treat anybody the way I was treated, then OR now, even though I honestly believe THEY deserved such treatment at the time. Banning tag, on the other hand, is fucking ridiculous. The bandaid approach seems to be the new American way of dealing with problems. Cover it up, pretend it isn’t happening. Bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Incubus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@Incubus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incubus)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2002, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schools-banning-tag-ummm-huh/137566/36 "2002-11-20T00:13:35Z")
This is silly. The very principles in which they want to ban tag are those that actually made me a _better_ person. It may be stretching things, but I feel it helped significantly in my life. I used to be one of those not-so-quick kids; I was also frail and skeletal as a young child. I played tag and was the target of ridicule- it was hurtful at the time but my animosity towards those who would do me illl shaped me into a lean, mean, tagging machine. In a short amount of time, I had aquired a great degree of agility and quickness, to the point that I was almost NEVER it (getting chased alot for other reasons also helped). It was my desire to not be the target/victim that turned the tables. Later, when I had met my best friend (currently of 12 years running) he was slower than everybody else and had the same problem. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2002, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schools-banning-tag-ummm-huh/137566/37 "2002-11-20T00:17:14Z")
[meaningless arrogance]They can take my 4-square when the pry the large red rubber ball out of my cold dead hands. Actually, they can take my 4-square when they get me out of the server’s square, which is NEVER because I RULE ALL at 4-square.[/meaningless arrogance] As for the topic at hand, as many have pointed out, if you have problems with bullies, deal with those problems, don’t think that you can solve them by banning a particular game. (Oh, and **evensven** , where in God’s name was your PE teacher while this was going on?) ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2002, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schools-banning-tag-ummm-huh/137566/38 "2002-11-20T01:02:23Z")
I suspect Clara Bow had something to do with this. ---
**Author:** ![DarkPrince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@DarkPrince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarkPrince)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2002, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schools-banning-tag-ummm-huh/137566/39 "2002-11-20T01:07:31Z")
> [@](#): > > **SANTA MONICA — A Santa Monica elementary school has banned the game of tag, once synonymous with youth and innocence, because they say it creates self-esteem issues among weaker and slower children.** Yeah, we gotta stop this before those weak and slow children get their feelings hurt! I challenge anyone to find or create a game where you can’t get your feelings hurt in some way, shape, or form. Also: [This](http://www.plif.com/archive/wc161.gif) is strangely relevant. ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2002, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schools-banning-tag-ummm-huh/137566/40 "2002-11-20T01:19:12Z")
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