Chucky Mama Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 My 11 year old son is getting really fed up with his school banning just about everything that is fun to do a playtime. So today he and his friends took in newspapers and sat in the middle of the playground reading them. We received a phone call at lunchtime from the class teacher to say that they had been told off and their newspapers confiscated as 1 of the papers contained an ad for an inappropriate chat line What is the world coming to? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 Surely ALL of the papers contained such ads?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 What a clever protest . Shame the teachers didn't see the funny side of it . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky Mama Posted June 3, 2009 Author Share Posted June 3, 2009 What a clever protest . Shame the teachers didn't see the funny side of it . The whole point completely bypassed them A couple of years ago my daughter had her tennis ball that she had taken it to play catch with confiscated as it was considered dangerous. I sent her in the following day with a sponge ball. That was removed too until I went in to demand it was given back The annoying thing is she spend an entire PE lesson being taught how to catch as half the kids couldn't catch a ball Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlo Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 At the first school that my kids went to, the HT banned any kind of running in case they fell over! Perhaps they should all take in the FT tomorrow - I am sure that there won't be any kind of inappropriate ads in there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scramble Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 Are they allowed chalk? when we were in primary we were allowed to draw in chalk on things as the rain washed it away only in a designated area though, In high school, the concrete is for walking around on having a chat, as is inside, except we're not allowed upstairs in case we fall out of windows grass is for larking astro turf is for football only, and it's huge all football, all lunch,... so boring. the rest of us just walk and talk, but in primary that was too boring. They should be allowed a ball at least! skipping ropes? or fear of being strangled? I was going to say paint on hopping squares, but I don't think and 11 year old boy would really be into that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 When I was at primary school they put up this fantastic rope climbing frame. It wasn't used in the winter, but when summer came I missed a fair amount of school due to asthma - when I got back to school it had been removed as it was deemed unsuitable. My class mates told me they all played on it while I was away until someone fell off. Good grief, we all used to climb trees in the woods - no adult supervision either! I think it's much worse now. How rediculous not to read the papers. Some teachers would like to see more children reading the news to broaden their knowledge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 when I was in junior school I got knocked over by the tail end of a long line of kids hurtling round the playground playing that game where you run after someone, tick them and they have to join the end of the line. Can't remember what it's called but the chain was really long and the person at the end came hurtling towards me, knocked my flying, I hit my head on the corner of a concrete step, my head bounced up and hit it again! I had the most massive purple egg on my forehead!!!! I kept crying and saying I wanted my mum and I needed to go to hospital in case I had brain damage! Well, I was 7, how was I to know but anyway, the teacher refused to call my mum or let me go home or to hospital. We also used to play British Bulldog and end up covered in bruises. There was another game too where two teams lined up and one side shouted "ally ally over, we call 'so and so' over" and you had to run at the other team and try and break through their line up. That was pretty violent too. Off ground tick was another, usually ended up with someone getting pushed off something high! Playground games were so rough when I was a kid! It's gone from one end of the scale to the other these days, shame there's no middle ground! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutmeg Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 Are they allowed chalk?when we were in primary we were allowed to draw in chalk on things as the rain washed it away only in a designated area though, Chalk is far too dangerous!!! They might get chalk dust on their clothes and heaven forbid, some may even find its way into their mouths! My DD once took in a birds nest for show and share and the teacher took it off her saying it was highly contagious and full of nasty bugs and that she had infected the classroom with mites and the whole school would need spraying. My Daughter was 6! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky Mama Posted June 4, 2009 Author Share Posted June 4, 2009 Mine banned the frogspawn as it was dangerous, conkers, ball, football, chase, Pokemon, Dr Who cards, Yo Yo's, you name it, they've banned it and now Reading the Newspaper is off the agenda. I have sent him in today to negotiate with the Head Teacher but poor boy is actually so frustrated that he is feeling a bit prone to tears so may not do it. I may step in but am trying to teach him that he can negotiate a settlement. The children raised money to buy playground equipment but they are not allowed to use it on the field where they are currently being allowed to play in case it get lost or not bought back in! He is going to sugges that they nominate children to bring it all in at the end of lunch. If this doesn't work I will go in and raise merry hell (again!!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poachedegg Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 It isn't all schools, DD's primary school has a playtrail, skipping ropes, are allowed to run around playing tag, play football etc etc - so let's not tar them all with the same brush! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickencam Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 My DD once took in a birds nest for show and share and the teacher took it off her saying it was highly contagious and full of nasty bugs and that she had infected the classroom with mites and the whole school would need spraying. My Daughter was 6! We had the same thing, we found a perfect disused nest in one of our gooseberry bushes at the allotment and YD took it to school but she wasn't allowed to show it because it was considered unclean. To be fair though the head at our school is great his new deputy is a bit more worried about things though. The children are allowed to do most things within reason. As to reading newspapers i think this should be encouraged from yr6 onwards. My son reads them in the library at his secondary school and is pretty upto date with current affairs but my ED hasn't a clue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkshire Pudding Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 It isn't all schools, DD's primary school has a playtrail, skipping ropes, are allowed to run around playing tag, play football etc etc - so let's not tar them all with the same brush! The DSs's school is similar - lots of balls a skipping ropes available, wooded and grassed areas, a climbing frame (over a chipped bark base), tyre playtrail, gardening club. A couple of years ago they had an archaeologist in school helping the children dig part of the school grounds, and I have taken in giant snails and milipedes, the children were allowed to touch and hold so long as hands were washed afterwards. I often have one or both DSs arrive home covered in mud/paint/plaster of Paris (or all 3), having had a wonderful time getting that way. What a shame your son's school has such a restrictive policy - how on earth do they expect the children to develop any self-reliance if they aren't allowed to take even small risks? I think the newspaper protest is wonderful, well done to your son and his friends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seagazer Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 The world has gone mad hasn't it? I would have been pleased to have seen them sitting reading a newspaper My YS's school has a jungle gym type thing in the playground and once class has a go on their own each playtime and they have a rota. For a while they had a rota for playing football as well How frustrating for the kids that just want to kick a ball about. They have a school playing field next to the playground so they could easily have sectioned part of it off. I think they have relaxed the rules now thank goodness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chookiehen Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 Our school is quite the opposite - playtime and lunchtime really is PLAYtime. The older classes are allowed onto the playingfield, where they play football, and once the younger classes complained that they weren't allowed, the parents council bought a new set of goal posts for the younger ones, and they now play at the other end of the fields. The janitor supervises the football, and it's quite well organised. The girls can play netball on the 'playball' field (spanking new, payed for by a lottery grant), and there is a badminton court painted on the playground floor. They are allowed chalks out, balls out, skipping ropes, the lot. It's an absolute pleasure to go past the school at lunchtime and see 110 all having fun, being children. Perhaps a few more headteachers should start worrying about giving children back the simple pleasures of childhood, and more parents should stop seeing playground s"Ooops, word censored!"es and bruises as a reason to sue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Couperman Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 The safety elves have taken things so far it is becoming dangerous. You cannot protect kids in a bubble all their lives. They have to learn how to not hurt themselves by learning from when they do. Kids are supposed to have scabs where their elbows and knees should be You have never lived until you know what it feels like to fall out of a tree and land flat on your back And if you do know how it feels there is a good chance you have stopped climbing trees We used to play footy on concrete because we didn't have a field, jumpers for goalposts, isn't it? aghhh. Ok there were the occasional broken bones, the odd bruise and trousers with no knees in them but no-one died, or more to the point got sued. Is really is a sad day when they ban children from playing. Kev. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clootie Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 I was proud of my bruises !! The blacker the better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helly Welly Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 DD is always proud of bruises and scabs Actually, our school has worked out a good system whereby the children all have a keyring with their name on which they swap for a toy, a skipping rope, ball or whatever. They then get the keyring back when they return the toy. No one can take a toy without a keyring so toys are pretty much always returned. The school raises money for new playground equipment fairly often and the children get a say in what is purchased. The Years 4 and 5 take it in turns to play football which is on a separate bit of concrete, this is properly refereed by a dinner lady who is a ref in her spare time. They are quite strict on proper behaviour whilst playing football but seeing as it is porperly refereed they can't really complain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken Licken Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 All safety elves at my place seem to be off sick! The kids hurtle around playing manhunt (banned of course!) footballs and rugby balls fly at speed and regularly hit unsuspecting passers by. Play times are for playing! Accidents do happen though and parents must realise that they cannot be risk averse - if we let em play - they will occasionally do daft things and hurt themselves - climb on roofs to get balls, falll off, break legs, concus one another or lose bits of finger!! They are loosely supervised, but mostly they play!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisP Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 We always were allowed to have skipping ropes, tennis rackets/balls, everything like that. Mind you, bulldog was banned after a girl broke her arm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missuscluck Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 I think some parents are to blame for restrictive playground policys. We have had lots of things banned at my kids primary school. When I have spoken to the head about it, he said it was because of parents complaining that their precious offspring had had a bruse or some kind of emotional issue with said game. When my son was in year 6 they were told they could not run So many parents are overprotective to the point where there is no chance of injury or healthy playround competition. We cant all be 'winners' all of the time or be wrapped up in cotton wool. It does put the school in a difficult position when parents complain. At risk of sounding like an 'old fogie' we used to get up to all sorts and I still have all my body parts intact. And I dont have a tantrum if I dont 'win' every time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jillus Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 The Safety Elves have been at it in Dundee. At School Fetes we are no longer allowed Home Baking Stalls as the cleanliness of the kitchens the cakes are baked in cannot be ensured and also Bouncy Castles have been banned on Elf and Safety grounds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fizzle Knit Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 I'm happy to say that my younger children's primary school is pretty relaxed about play-time activities. Also, parents are allowed to film/photo their children's stage performances without invoking the child protection and data protection bogey men. I agree there are too many overly-protective parents who are too ready to complain when something happens to their child. If the same thing happened while the child was in their own care they would describe it as an accident and want all due sympathy, but if somebody somehwere can be blamed for it, they will! Anyone see the Apprentice episode with the baby equipment? Why would a parent put a helmet on their child? (I guess for the same reasons parents also put their kids on dog leashes ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky Mama Posted June 5, 2009 Author Share Posted June 5, 2009 We had a situation on sports day last year when there where 3 competing Houses. 1 won by a long way - but points for good behaviour were given out at the end (all of the children behaved equally well) to the loosing team which made them the winners The number of points given for behaviour were about 10 times that of winning a race! I despair Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missuscluck Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 We are still 'allowed' to make cakes but we cant produce food in the school kitchen without someone present who has a food hygene certificate ?????? We are not allowed to take photos of film the children. The school produce a DVD of the school Christmas play and the profits go into the school fund. Great, except last year one parent didnt give permission for the school play to be filmed so there was no DVD either. A real shame for those who were in their last year at the school. What has happened to us 70's children that we do this to our kids?? Were we so bowled over by our ZX 81's and Spectrums that all we want our kids to do is play computer games all day so they dont get hurt in the real world? I blame the media for making us think there is a bad person round every corner or that we can make evry slip someone elses fault and get some cash out of it. Yours An angry missuscluck who lost most of her marbles in the 70's but vowed to play better next time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
