doctoral candidate in rhetoric and scientific and technical communication
you’re it
I’m at odds on the banning of tag in the small suburban city of Attleboro, Massachussetts.
On one hand, I see it as another nail in the coffin of childhood.
We have these games we play as kids. Ring around the Rosey. Olly Olly Oxen Free. Hide and Seek. Tag.
These games help us understand social order and how to interact with one another on different levels than playing with dolls and racing cars in our safe homes allow us. They encourage interaction, confrontation, and diplomacy.
On the other hand, they encourage confrontation and aggression and one-ups-manship.
I wonder if the civic leaders who implement these rules are thinking about how this will affect the futures of these kids.
Will banning tag lead to kids who don’t understand how harsh and cruel the world can be? Or will it foster kids who grow up to be adults who think that there are other means of solving problems than physical violence?
Or are they mostly concerned with the issues of litigation? And if that is the case, aren’t they promoting a more litigious community? If these kids grow up thinking that yelling loud enough will get them what they want (no matter how irrational) and that if they don’t get it, they’ll sue, are we better off for it?
I really do understand the banning. But it also leaves me in a quandary.
I think thats taking things a bit far. There are so many bigger issues to tackle in terms of kindness and safety for children. Maybe start from the top of the pile and work down. Respect and compassion are rooted at home, if children have a good start and good parents guiding them, it makes all the difference.