Playground games banned at Primary school

tiff

I found out today from my daughter who is in year 6 at Primary that playground games such as bulldog, manhunt and touch have been banned as they get out of hand!

Do most Primary schools have this type of rule? I just cant see why such traditional games should be such a problem. What else are the kids to do, they arent allowed a ball either!

rachbc

bulldog was banned when I was at school!

My son's old primary have loads of stuff like bean bags, hula hoops, bats and balls, footballs etc

Fang_3

British Bulldog was banned when I was in primary for approximately two days, and then reinstated. Rounders was also briefly banned but that was because the bat flew out of one girl's hand and hit one of the dinnerladies.

kizkiz

We had the old classic of conkers being banned.
Strangely, we also had micro machines banned!

vesper

Bulldog was banned back when I was at primary school many many moons ago after my sister broke her arm playing it.

tinksy

bulldog was banned when i was at school due to danger!

Tropez

I'll assume bulldog was banned at our school as I have no idea what it is...

At the end of the day, it just isn't in the school's interest to allow anything that might "go too far" because if someone breaks so much as a finger there'll be parents suing, health and safety officers banging on the door and inspectors from the LEA all in a tizz.

Possibly, someone has been injured and some parents have unleashed the lawyers hence this ban.

tiff

rachbc wrote: »

bulldog was banned when I was at school!

My son's old primary have loads of stuff like bean bags, hula hoops, bats and balls, footballs etc

I found this on wiki (I know its not necessarily fact)

Controversy

"His neck was flexed forcibly while his head was against the floor, and immediately after the injury he had severe pain of the cervical spine ... [which] shows that games such as British bulldog can be as dangerous as rugby football."
British Medical Journal, June 1985
The game has occasionally resulted in slight injury, such as cuts and grazes, owing to its rough nature, but when schools started to fear more serious injury and legal action, many took the decision to ban the game. One such serious injury was reported in the British Medical Journal in June 1985, reporting a child had suffered a spinal injury whilst playing the game. Some schools decided to discourage the game, others implemented an outright ban. A 2008 survey of one thousand children by the British National Children's Bureau revealed a third of them had been banned from playing the game. Although no national ban was agreed in the United Kingdom, many schools feel that health and safety laws and regulations leave them no choice but to ban the traditional game.
Recently, there has been a change of attitudes towards the game. Many schools now see it as a traditional sport that should not be lost, an attitude which has prospered as concerns about how much exercise children do become more prevalent. In September 2008, the Local Government Association decided that, in an attempt to reduce child obesity, it would advise councils and authorities in England and Wales to encourage the game, along with other such playground activities. Nevertheless, some organizations fear the traditional game will still be lost as schools will introduce certain rules restricting the boisterousness of the game.[1]

They arent allowed bats, balls or footballs but can use a frisbee, hula hoop and some other small games. Seems a shame though, some kids particularly boys need to burn off energy after being cooped up in a classroom.

Rummer

Bulldog has been banned since I was at school a long time ago.

Most schools however promote fun and active playground games to compensate for the few that get out of hand and need to be banned.

tiff

Bulldog wasnt banned in our school until recently, there was never a blanket ban across all schools. So manhunt and touch are risky too? Sorry I dont believe it.

fannyanna

What is (or was) bulldog?