Melbourne schools ban playground games because of lack of resilience

[nero_bolt]

Melbourne schools ban playground games because of lack of resilience 

SCHOOLS are resorting to banning games such as tiggy and skipping because many children either can't share or can't handle losing.

Smaller families and over-protective parents are being blamed for a lack of resilience.

The onus often falls on teachers to show children how to sort out their problems.

Greensborough Primary principal Margaret Hirth, whose school temporarily banned tiggy late last term because of a lack of fair play and a failure to sort out differences of opinion, said children often required adult support for games to run smoothly.

The tiggy ban was lifted this term after the rules were reiterated at assembly.

"Kids would be playing nicely until they got tagged and then they'd say: 'Well, I'm not playing any more','' Mrs Hirth said.

"Instead of it being their fun time, it ended up being that we were sorting out lots and lots of conflict. When I was a child, I had no memory of other people sorting out our tiggy - we just seemed to be able to do it ourselves," she said.

Parent information sessions and a psychologist-run resilience program are among measures to help students weather life's ups and downs.

"All kids at the moment need a little bit of extra support to be resilient and to manage it when things in a game don't go well or when life doesn't go well,'' Mrs Hirth said.

Victorian Principals Association president Gabrielle Leigh said some schools had imposed bans on other games, such as skipping and swapping collector cards, over problems sharing.

Parenting ideas founder Michael Grose, who works with 1500 schools nationwide, said smaller families meant many children didn't experience the rigours of interacting with siblings.

Adult-organised activities and children's problems being solved by over-protective parents were also factors.

"We smooth the way for children so by the time they get to school and … they have things that don't go their way, they have difficulty coping,'' he said.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/melbourne-schools-ban-playground-games-because-of-lack-of-...

[*elizabeths-mum*]

I look at our fake grass covered school playground and wonder how kids will ever cope if something happens to them. Not that I rejoice in skinned knees and elbows from falling on the asphalt, but it's all part of toughening up and learning that life will sometimes throw unpleasant things at you. Now every minor incident is catastrophised.

[***super_nova***]

My motto:

The best gift you can give your kids is not to make the road smooth for them, but to prepare them for the rough bits.

[horizon1907]

I've come from a generation where Kids would play and sometimes get hurt. That was just the way it was. These days, it seems that if the little mites get hurt, it ends up a major disaster and ends up a Blame Game. Let's Sue, for an unsafe playground etc. Give me a break. We would climb trees and sometimes fall. Broken bones, teeth and all. But, it was just the way it was. 

Let kids be kids and stop wrapping them up in cottonwool. Get them ready for the real world.  Sometimes Life Aint Fair.  Get used to it. 🙂 

[harley_babes_hoard]

And they wonder why we have an obesity problem in the country. For crying out loud!

Just sit them at home in front of the tv where they are "safe"

[horizon1907]

and let them play all those violent games on play stations etc. 🙂

[harley_babes_hoard]

here is another stupid crackdown ...banning cartwheels and handstands.

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/queensland-school-crackdowns-on-cartwheels-20140902-10b82...

[azureline**]

That's not such a stupid crackdown, it protects the other children from a boot in the face when children cartwheel around the playground, the concrete areas etc......................

When it's your child injured, it might be a different story.

[tall_bearded01]

Brought up three kids. They got their fair share of bruises and broken limbs.

The expectation, dust yourself off and get back too it. Don’t blame anyone else, you made the decision. So it hurts. Learn from it. All part of growing up. In fact where I came from, a cast was a rite of passage.

Where I worked I regular came onto contact with those adults who were the product of the overly protected childhood, and what precious beings some were. Couldn’t tell them what to do or how to do it, because, though new to the job, they had as might right to  their view as someone with 30 year experience. Handed more that none a cardboard box and told them clear out their desk.

The workplace is a harsh place to first learn there is no such thing as a level playing field. That the world doesn’t owe you a living, and if you’re new on the job, you’d better shut up and listen.

[the_hawk*]

Could be something to do with living in a nanny state where people do want to be responsible for themselves and a much larger problem with having too many warning labels that prevents natural selection from occurring