WINDHAM, N.H. (CBS) – There will be no more dodgeball at schools in Windham, New Hampshire.
The school board voted 4-to-1 last week to take it and all other so-called “human target” games out of the physical education curriculum.This scares me on two levels. First and foremost, this is in "Live Free Or Don't Play Dodgeball" New Hampshire. This is the sort of brainless zero tolerance crap we expect in Massachusetts, not in New Hampster. Does this mean that the MA Mindset is spreading? Windham is just north of the MA/NH border, and is a very convenient conduit to Boston with I-93 close by. Are we seeing the Massachusettsification of New Hampshire?
Secondly, there's a larger issue at stake. The heart of the matter is that a parent felt that their child was bullied during the game of dodgeball. Perhaps this is a legitimate complaint; perhaps it's another Precious Snowflake moment - there's not enough info to say. But the knee-jerk reaction of the school is pretty frightening - rather than address the bullying issue, they ban dodgeball. What do you think is going to happen to the kid who was already being bullied when a favorite gym game is taken away because of their actions?
We're seeing more and more of this, and it's sickening to see it spreading into NH. A tiny, statistically insignificant portion of people misuse firearms criminally? BAN GUNS. Americans are getting fatter? BAN LARGE SODAS. Kids are being bullied in gym class? BAN DODGE BALL. Rather than address issues as they arise, we apply broad brush solutions that don't actually fix anything but make us *feel* like we're doing something.
Even if that "something" we're doing is not only completely ineffectual but rather counterproductive.
That is all.
5 comments:
No fan of bans, but in all honesty, I've seen dodgeball result in broken noses and fingers and could easily be used as a substitute for a beating.
Trying to prove malicious intent in something like that is well-nigh impossible.
If they MAKE the kids play it (Ours was always just volunteer at recess)then I can see the reasoning for choosing a less physical game.
I am convinced that stuff like banning such games and sports and even banning bullying (in its softer forms) is one of the main reasons that young people tend to flip out and go postal. They have no clue that their grievances can be addressed by less than the ultimate violence they see in entertainment such as movies and killer games. They are not accustomed to being able to vent by way aggressive and even slightly to moderately violent behavior (which is normal behavior among teens). Thus, the buildup of emotions rises to not only the boiling point but to the super-heated steam point and the furnace explodes in violence of extreme proportions. Our schools are in part responsible for breeding this disproportional violence in our society by way of banning appropriate violence that is proportional to any given situation.
One more strike against the NE corridor...
NH became North Massistan around the middle of the last decade. Today our betters wiped out our self defense right. We now need to flee if assaulted or give them what they want, lest we have some George Zimmerman wanna-be. Windham is full of wealthy carpetbaggers, so no surprise on the dodgeball. Demographically, it's the NY, NJ, CT, and RI border jumpers wreaking havoc. Case in point, cynthia "let's legislate the free staters out of existence" chase, RI resident until 2006.
"Massachusettsification". Ugh.
What a pity that such a word is necessary.
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