The War on Play

Joyce Dopkeen/The New York Times

At Oakdale Elementary School in Montville, Conn., tag, dodgeball and other potentially hazardous games have been restricted.
Modern life doesn't encourage unscripted play. Parents are afraid to let their children play outside. They schedule their children's lives including their free time. Kids are let out into fenced pens where an adult can see them at all times. (What fun is that?) Schools have eliminated daily phys ed, and according to this New York Times article, recess is now in the sights of school administrators. God forbid kids should just go out and play. No, now their recess activities are carefully monitored, and in one Connecticut school, the use of balls was prohibited. Balls? Good grief. Let them play.

NYTimes: School Recess Gets Gentler, and the Adults Are Dismayed

NYTimes: Before Children Ask, 'What's Recess?'

Guardian (uk): Playgrounds too soft, mean streets too hard Having scabs from scrapes is part of childhood!