The Near Collision Menace

This is the blog that will label me as an "old man". Principally because I intend on using the phrase "Why, I remember when . . . "

I was reading a story about school officials at an elementary school south of Boston who 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.

Recess is "a time when accidents can happen," said Willett Elementary School Principal Gaylene Heppe, who approved the ban. This follows several school administrators around Attleboro, a city of about 45,000 people, who took aim at dodge ball a few years ago, saying it was exclusionary and dangerous.

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.

Celeste D'Elia, a parent at Willett, said her son feels safer because of the new rule. "I've witness enough near collisions," she said.

I know I will take some heat for it, but I blame idiot women for this. I will guarantee all of the principal people instrumental in all of these airhead bans are women and I can even tell you why.

Women have convinced other women that they can have it all. A career, a marriage and children. All of this is some post-feminist ideal. The only problem, as far as they can see, is one of timing. They believe that if they get on a strong career path until their mid thirties, get to a point of power or at least prolonged competence so as to be difficult to replace during the six weeks of maternity leave, and find a good nanny or day care center, that they will have it all.

Once the child is in school they have to "show they care" by being involved in little Johnny or Susie's education. But since their career makes it difficult to actually be involved in their child's life by doing things like homework and school projects and birthday parties and days at the zoo, they do the next best thing (in their eyes) and create a situation whereby they are perceived at involved. They kick up a fuss at school because they care so much.

The other reason they are so over-protective is because they started so late in life to have children. Older, career parents view their children as another status symbol or possession to be maintained in pristine condition and trotted out at the appropriate times to feed their ego. Like the Lexus or the Prada. Or the good china.

Younger mothers aren't used to exercising that much control in other areas of their lives and are enjoying their children. They are more relaxed and winging it. They are more likely to have all the neighborhood kids playing in their back yard than to be organizing a committee to study the harmful effects of keeping score during soccer games.

Why, (here it comes) I remember when kids could ride their bicycles without the state requiring them to wear protective helmets.

So, we may be living in a brave new world where women can have it all -- but the consequence is becoming a generation of kids who have nothing -- compared to those who came before them.