The Ongoing Wussification of America

Started by TehBorken, Oct 18 06 10:06

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TehBorken

Another installment of  "The Ongoing Wussification of America" See below the article for a commentary that I think holds more truth than most people are comfortable with.
[hr style="width: 100%; height: 2px;"][font style="font-weight: bold;" size="5"] School bans tag, other chase games[/font]
ATTLEBORO, Massachusetts (AP) -- Tag, you're out![/p]Officials at an elementary school south of Boston have banned kids from playing tag, touch football and any other unsupervised chase game during recess for fear they'll get hurt and hold the school liable.[/p]Recess is "a time when accidents can happen," said Willett Elementary School Principal Gaylene Heppe, who approved the ban.[/p]While there is no districtwide ban on contact sports during recess, local rules have been cropping up. Several school administrators around Attleboro, a city of about 45,000 residents, took aim at dodgeball a few years ago, saying it was exclusionary and dangerous. ([a href="jvascript:cnnVideo('play','/video/education/2006/10/18/bookman.ma.tag.ban.wfxt','2006/11/01');"]Watch how second-grader Kelsey interpreted the rule -- 1:30[/a])[/p]Elementary schools in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Spokane, Washington, also recently banned tag during recess. A suburban Charleston, South Carolina, school outlawed all unsupervised contact sports.[/p]"I think that it's unfortunate that kids' lives are micromanaged and there are social skills they'll never develop on their own," said Debbie Laferriere, who has two children at Willett, about 40 miles south of Boston. "Playing tag is just part of being a kid."[/p]Another Willett parent, Celeste D'Elia, said her son feels safer because of the rule. "I've witnessed enough near collisions," she said.[/p][hr style="width: 100%; height: 2px;"]Commentary......

"Khomar" writes:
A couple points here: First, I am so tired of hearing parents saying what their children feel. Does her son really feel safer, or does he just say he does because it makes mom happy?[/p] Also, note that the concern comes from the mother. Now I will probably be labelled sexist here, but this just brings up the differences between the sexes (yes, to all of you college professors and students lost in the realm of theory and academia, there is a difference between men and women). Women are inherently protective because security is very important to them. It is called nuturing. It gives them the incredible gift of motherhood which helps children feel safe and protected. Men, on the other hand, tend to be harder and push their children. They are the ones who encourage their sons to make a solid tackle next time instead of just a glancing blow. They are also the ones that encourage their children to take chances. For men, it is all about status and fulfillment. The fact is that both the mother and father are necessary to the proper upbringing of children. All children need to feel safe, but they also need to learn that taking risks is okay. They need both in order to grow up to be well-adjusted adults.[/p] Unfortunately, over the past thirty or forty years, our society has demeaned fathers and promoted mothers. Fathers are portrayed in the media as stupid, aloof, or cruel. Men are looked down upon for being who they are as our whole society loses the ability to take chances. Women, in trying to make men into images of themselves, are now finding that they can no longer find "real men". I wonder why. This instance is a case in point. Notice that it is the mother who is concerned about the issue. It is the mother who has pushed this agenda until the school backed down. The father has been rendered powerless -- or has allowed himself to become powerless.[/p] Two things need to happen here if things are to turn around. First, men need to involve themselves in their children's lives. Their role is just as important as the mother's in raising children. Teach your sons to be men, and teach your daughters what kind of men that she be attracted to. Second, women need to allow men to take the role they were meant to play as a true partner in the relationship. No more cheap potshots at men, and no demeaning them infront of their children. Couples need to come together and support each other, and we as a society need to recognize the differences and strengths of both mothers and fathers and support them.[/p]
The real trouble with reality is that there's no background music.

CK

First, men need to involve themselves in their children's lives.



Simple, but it works!!

Just A Dad

 Simple, but it works? That's kind of a flip remark for such an issue that has such serious implications.

I think most men are involved in their children's lives, or at least as much as they're allowed to be. The old saw that "men don't care about children" or "men don't want to be involved with their kids" is not only insulting to half the human race, it's simply wrong.

Does anyone here really think that fathers don't care about their children every bit as much as mothers do?? The media may claim that and you may see it endlessly repeated on television, but do you really think that's true?? We'll rush into a burning building to save children that aren't even ours, for example. When was the last time you heard of a woman doing that?

I think society routinely discounts fathers as fathers in almost every way and at almost every opportunity. You hear a lot about "deadbeat dads", but did you know that mothers are about 70% more likely to not pay court ordered child support? It's true, but don't hold your breath waiting to hear that in the mainstream media.
 

CK

My response had nothing to do with the deadbeat dad vs. deadbeat mothers ratio.

  Its simple in that, maybe if more dads, (or parents in general), took the time to spend with their kids instead of plopping them down in front of an x-box, or fu*king TV set, the whole world would be a better place.

Possibly, just maybe, a kid could get a bruise playing tag in the school yard, and they would understand it is not the end of the world!  

TehBorken

 CK wrote: Its simple in that, maybe if more dads, (or parents in general), took the time to spend with their kids instead of plopping them down in front of an x-box, or fu*king TV set, the whole world would be a better place.

Totally agree. The boob-tube and video games really do tend to increase isolation and reduce "family time", in my opinion. My son gets a specific amount of time per day he can play video or watch TV (and that's after homework is done). And the time he gets isn't guaranteed...when he complains about it I tell him to look in the Constitution, cuz the "right to video games" it isn't specified in there anywhere.

One of his friends at school has an X-Box and a Gamecube and a TV in his room. He has virtually no self control and no supervision that we can see, so he plays allllllllllllll the time, day and night. And guess what? He's failing! We're hardly a month into the school year and the kid is already flunking. Now I may not be a clairvoyant super-genius, but I'd bet big bucks there's a connection....
 [/div] [div style="font-style: italic;"]Possibly, just maybe, a kid could get a bruise playing tag in the school yard, and they would understand it is not the end of the world!

 Really. I wish people would understand that a bruise isn't the end of the damn world. Part of it, I'm sure, is that schools are afraid of the parents and the great American lawsuit. They don't give a crap about the kids in that respect, but they do fear some bonehead parent suing the crap out of them because little Johnny skinned his knee.

The real trouble with reality is that there's no background music.

CK

For sure!

I really have nothing against a time and place for video games too. Balance, is the key.

I am no expert, my kid hasn't even started kindergarten yet.  

kingy

for half a second, i thought they were gonna ban it because they didnt want the girls being touched by the boys. could lead to something sexual.
...

CK

kingy wrote:
for half a second, i thought they were gonna ban it because they didnt want the girls being touched by the boys. could lead to something sexual.[/DIV]
 I bet that is part of it all. I am sure schools will be done with all together in the future!

Sportsdude

CK wrote:
 My response had nothing to do with the deadbeat dad vs. deadbeat mothers ratio.

  Its simple in that, maybe if more dads, (or parents in general), took the time to spend with their kids instead of plopping them down in front of an x-box, or fu*king TV set, the whole world would be a better place.

Possibly, just maybe, a kid could get a bruise playing tag in the school yard, and they would understand it is not the end of the world!

 
   What if you play xbox with your kid? Or watch tv with them? To me thats just like playing ball with them or something.
"We can't stop here. This is bat country."

CK

Sportsdude wrote:
CK wrote:
  What if you play xbox with your kid? Or watch tv with them? To me thats just like playing ball with them or something. [/DIV]
 I guess to me, in small doses, that would be fine. The difference is, TV IS EVIL!! Actually, we do have movie time together.

I need new movies, any recommendations (kid friendly).

TehBorken

  Sportsdude wrote:  What if you play xbox with your kid?

Like CK said, in small doses, sure. But this isn't really what I'd call quality interaction.


Or watch tv with them?

Seriously? Sitting passively on a couch watching TV counts as spending time with your child? No way.  Listen to what you're saying.  


To me thats just like playing ball with them or something.
 Well, in my opinion, it's not. Why bother being there at all if you're just going to sit and watch TV? You might want to reconsider line of thought this before having children.
 
The real trouble with reality is that there's no background music.