The Bigsibling Blog

I feel bad for my kids. I really do. It has to suck to be a kid in this day and age. First, one learns in kindergarten they have to be wary of who they speak with and how they touch them. We have seen incidents where five year old kids are charged with sexual harassment because they give their kindergarten teacher a hug. Or because they give another school mate a hug or a peck on the cheek.

Add to this the fact that now, at Percy Julian Middle School in Oak Park, ILL kids are not even allowed to hug anyone on school grounds…at all….ever. Hugging, banned. I try to wrap my mind around this whole deal, but I am miserably failiing. The reason, according to the principal, is because some students were forming what she called “hugging lines” in the hallways, giving each other hugs and making it difficult for some kids to get through the hallways. Okay, sure, there is a problem there, but really, is banning hugs the answer? Sadly, Victoria Sharts (the principal – I don’t think, in this case, ‘your principal is your ‘pal’ really fits here), believes that people should only hug at airports and family renuions. That makes me sad, really. That this lady is so devoid of emotion and any kind of caring human contact that she feels hugs are inappropriate anywhere by an airport or family reunion. It makes me wonder how such a cold person could be in charge of a middle school.

In addition to the hugging thing, over to the left a bit, and down the map we look at Colorado Springs, CO. There, the elementary schools have banned the age old game of tag. Yes, that is correct, it is not unlawful to play tag at recess in Colorado Springs, CO. It seems that some kids that played tag, didn’t want to be chased. So instead of telling the kids “don’t play tag” they just ban the whole shebang. It is like the little girl several years back who was being charged with assault for hitting a kid with a ball while they were playing…dodgeball. If one doesn’t want to be hit with a ball, don’t play dodgeball. If one doesn’t want to be chased, don’t play tag. But instead of just telling the kid not to play tag, the make it so no one can play tag. I suppose that way the kid who didn’t like being chased doesn’t feel like an outsider. Heck no, they probably just feel ostracized now. I know what my kids are like. And if this had happened to them, the whiny cry-baby kid would certainly not be welcome in any other games played. They would go out of their way to keep away from him. After all, if the kid is slow, does that mean a foot race is no longer a valid option at recess?

And what, to many kids, is one of the greatest holidays of all time is under attack as well. The holiday where kids get loads of candy, don’t have to be good, don’t have to wait for some bearded fat man, and can wear a disguise. Yes, I’m speaking of Halloween. The Kohl Elementary School in Broomfield, CO (again with the Coloradoans – when I lived there, we used to joke that Colorado was being Californicated – I guess that is over and the Californicators have won) has eliminated their Halloween celebration. In its place is – you guessed it – a “Fall Festival”. What the heck is a Fall Festival? And why are we celebrating the Fall? What does the Fall do that is so special it requires a festival? My guess is, some dimwitted parents of some kid complained that Halloween – for whatever reason – was simply inappropriate. So, in order to be ‘inclusive’ the school scraps Halloween, and replaces with this some crap festival. It seems to me it would have been better to just scrap the whole thing altogether. Not have any celebration in the fall. It isn’t like the kids are not going to celebrate Halloween anyway. They are still going to dress up in costumes and go trick or treating. They are still going to stay up light on 31 October eating way too much candy. The only thing this accomplishes is 1) kids don’t get to wear their costumes to school and 2) teachers have to come up with some lame excuse as to why they are having a great big party on 5 Oct.

No way. For all those who think they would like a second go ’round at youth, you can have it, I don’t want it. When I was a kid, we ran the neighborhood. In school we played tag, and dodgeball, and we had schoolyard fights. And you know what? Never were the police called. Not once was a kid arrested or accused or charged with anything. Usually we ended up in the principal’s office. And later that night we would end up on the wrong side of dad’s belt. But today? No way Jose. I’ll leave the mess that is childhood today to the kids.

Technorati Tags: Broomfield Colorado, Colorado Springs, Oak Park Illinois, childhood, youth, elemtary school, middle school, grade school

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