Talk about tag

Jan 22, 2023

Prompt: 

"A school banned tag because there were a lot of kids getting hurt while playing the game, and they thought safety was a priority.

Do you think this was a good idea? Please share your opinion on this."

Name: Brandon 

Grade: 1

Response:

"This is not right. It makes the kids feel sad, and it hurts their feelings, because they took away tag and the kids love the game and are not allowed to play. Teachers are not supposed to hurt kids feelings, as they are normally very helpful to kids. This is not right."

Name: Maya Kara 

Grade: 4

Response:

" In my opinion banning children from playing tag in school due to safety reasons is a good decision. 

It is responsible of the school to care about the safety and health of the children that go to their school. Some children would believe schools are punishing them for others getting hurt, injured, or scraped, and I get that part; it is a fun and playful game. But if you argue that it is not fair, it would be selfish to those who keep getting hurt for that one game. There are so many fun games you can play in school, such as hide and seek, cheese, and more, but if kids keep getting injured constantly, then schools would have to ban the game so that no one else would get hurt. Safety is also a school's main priority over having fun. Children could get serious injuries, such as breaking their leg, arm, or even having a concussion. This would mean missing school and maybe even having a lifelong injury. For these reasons, I believe schools banning tag for safety reasons is a good idea."

Name: Sonya Kara 

Grade: 4

Response:

"I think it's not a good idea to ban tag in school just to keep children safe. It's unfair to children as tag is fun, and banning it would be punishing children for accidents they didn't mean to happen. Also, playing tag may cause some accidents but not as many as in other sports, such as hockey. Are we going to ban all sports because players could get hurt? Tag is not a competitive sport, and children do not play aggressively. It is usually played for fun during recess, usually on grass, and only for a short time, which means there is a lesser chance of accidents happening. My solution would be to have rules for tag so children can play safely. These rules would be to not tag too hard, to not push or trip anyone, and to watch where you are running. I love to play tag with my friends, and I would not want my school to ban tag."

Name: Caden 

Grade: 5

Response:

"This is not a good decision, as recess is a time that the school gives you to interact with your friends. The reason why tag should not be banned is because it brings a lot of people together, which means more kids will interact with each other and make friends. Otherwise, we are only spending time with 1-3 kids. By playing tag, we are running around which helps our physical bodies and improves our mental health. During tag, kids are laughing and are very happy, instead of just sitting around talking and not doing much. "

Name: Thea Tiege 

Grade: 5

Response (adjacent theme):

"Snow ball throwing – Thea Tiege

There are some negative and positive aspects in snowball throwing.

Why I think it’s OK

It’s fun. You get exercise and it joins people together. It only happens once a year so have fun while you can.

Some negative aspects of throwing snowballs in the school yard (with solutions). The first point is the most obvious one. Someone might get hurt. The solution to that is to only use soft snow! If you get confused ask a supervisor! Another problem is what if someone slips? The solution is don’t run. Another negative is that some people might feel excluded, then if you do please use the buddy bench.

In conclusion I think yes we should be able to throw snow balls.

Thank you."

Name: Brendan A

Grade: 6

Response (adjacent theme):

"I understand the school's decision to ban tag for the safety of their students. However, looking from a student's point of view, kids could be frustrated and unhappy with this new decision to forbid playing tag. Instead of completely banning tag, the school could have made the recess supervisor watch the game more closely. If things got out of hand, the supervisor could temporarily ban the game for one or two weeks. The school could also make "forbidden areas", places that are too rugged or muddy, where students could not play tag."