Wed 27 Sep 2006
It actually kinda scares me a little that this is how we’re raising today’s youth. It went from teachers not being allowed to corporally discipline students, to parents walking a fine line between punishment and abuse, to kids not being allowed to play tackle football at school, to not being allowed to run during flag football (you have to speed-walk to the person so it’s non-violent, per some schools), to Tag being outlawed at some elementary schools because a child psychologist said stress levels of kids had gone up when asked questions about playing Tag (of course stress levels go up, it’s adrenaline, it’s part of the game!) and they didn’t want kids to feel the pressure of being “forced” to be “it” when another kid runs up and tags him. THESE are the kids who are gonna be fighting our wars?
My friend Adam emails me today:
My third grader and some of his friends got sent to the principal’s office this week for reading a Pokemon book in the bathroom at recess.
Me:
DEVIANTS!!! What kind of MONSTER are you REARING?! I have never heard of such an atrocious violation of parental guidance!
Can I blog this?
And what’s wrong with reading a Pokemon book?!
Adam:
Dude. Where have you been?
Pokemon is forbidden because it leads to play fighting which can lead to real fighting.
Representations of superheros on clothing are forbidden for the same reason.
Playing tag is forbidden because kids run into other kids.
Blog it.
Are they KIDDING?! They’re IMAGINARY cutsie little cartoon creatures that roll out of a little ball to fight each other with magical abilities, and the two cartoon kids competing don’t even TOUCH each other! It’s not like as the pets throw lightning bolts and wind at each other, the two boys are kicking each others’ asses!
Adam also supplements:
At the last cub scout picnic we played kickball. I fielded the ball and drilled the kid with it as he ran to first base. “You can’t do that!” “Can’t do what?” “You can’t throw the ball at people!” “What’re you talking about? This is kickball. Of course you can throw the ball at people–that’s how you get them out.” Some mom comes to explain, “They don’t allow the kids to throw the ball at each other on the playground at school.” I tell the kids, “Listen, boys, are you in cub scouts or girl scouts? All right then, get ready to get drilled.”
oh my gawd! that’s so ridiculous! those kids are going to be afraid of every little bump and scratch when they grow up. and no pokemon because it displays fighting?? we grew up with GI Joe cartoons, thundercats, he-man, all had fighting. and we’re not screwed up right? they should trust kids will learn the difference beween imaginary TV and real life.
I know!! These kids are gonna be such softies. It’s okay to fall out of a tree now and then. It teaches you how to land, so that when you grow up and fall off a bike, you don’t break anything, and when you get even older and fall off a barstool in a drunken stupor, you INSTINCTIVELY land correctly.
Everyday the schools come up with something else… completely ridiculous..
It’s as bad as the idiots making you say “Happy Holidays”.. instead of Merry Christmas. I couldn’t care less how many other religious signs are displayed as long as there are Merry Christmas signs still up. Cities are afraid to put Christmas trees up…er, excuse me, “holiday trees”.
(both completely unfounded)
ps.. is the RoadRunner next? I mean he keeps trying to kill bugs bunny… they throw each other off cliffs and throw bombs at each other all the time.
I thought Roadrunner’s arch nemesis is Wile E. Coyote. But as far as I know all Roadrunner ever does is sneak up behind him and go, “meep meep” and Coyote drops weapons on himself. Even if Roadrunner and Bugs did throw each other off cliffs and throw bombs at each other, outlawing that would be nothing when the schools already outlawed superHEROES for fighting. But come on, they’re fighting CRIME and EVIL in MAJOR METROPOLITAN CITIES! Are they gonna ban FDNY shirts for fighting fire? I Heart NYPD for fighting crimes? POW shirts for fighting terrorists?!
I just threw a couple cartoon characters out there… see how much I know? Here all this time I thought Roadrunner and Bugs were jumping off cliffs. I know it was REALLY violent though.. I can’t believe I watched that stuff as a kid and ended up ‘normal’. hehe