So... kids are allowed to run in the school grounds again, yeah?

Miss Olenska

Took a walk over the weekend near the parents' house with the mammy and we ended up walking past my old primary school. The school grounds had all different newly painted markings for different games, such as hopscotch, football, basketball and a few others too. Does this mean that kids are allowed to run in playgrounds again, or was it ever banned in the first place? I might have just imagined that to be the case.

I left primary in 1996 and we were always allowed run in the schoolyard but I heard in the years after that, it was stopped in a lot of school because of Elf n' Safety and all that jazz. Now, I never got anything worse than a grazed knee in school and never witnessed any horrific injuries in my times so was always a bit at this development.

But in the last while, childhood obesity has been on the increase so I'm guessing sense has prevailed and the pros and cons of schoolyard have been weighed up. If so, then \o/.

GLaDOS

We weren't supposed to when I was in primary school (left in '02), never stopped us though.

MrStuffins

Wait............. I don't remember being unable to run in the schoolyard?

Sure we had a 5 a side football pitch in mine, would've been difficult to play if we couldn't run (although, it DID teach us incredible balance because the ground was gravel mixed with broken glass from whoever had been smashing their drink bottles that weekend)

jackie1974

My older children went to school in Cork city and had to walk in the playground but where I am now is more rural and my son plays hurling, football etc.. at break time and can run and regularly comes home with no knees in his clothes from slide tackling but I thought it was just a location thing, that the bigger schools were afraid of being sued, I don't know, good observation though.

krudler

ScienceNerd wrote: »

We weren't supposed to when I was in primary school (left in '02), never stopped us though.

I am very old.

Miss Olenska

krudler wrote: »

I am very old.

Yeah, it's disturbing how many whippersnappers use this website.

Robbo

Were children ever really banned from running or was it the positive feedback loop of half-remembered articles from the Mail (cf Christmas being banned) coupled with parents with underworked brains chattering?

Because the majority of these "Health and Safety gone mad" tales are as the result of either some goon with a bull**** qualification in H&S doing his best to cement his position or a complete misapplication of the facts from a case where an action was taken.

MrStuffins

ScienceNerd wrote: »

We weren't supposed to when I was in primary school (left in '02), never stopped us though.

krudler wrote: »

I am very old.

Yeah, I did my bloody Leaving Cert in '02 (I did transition year and all)

Jaysus, to be a young man again

Immaculate Pasta

No they haven't changed the rules as far as I know. Anybody who gets found guilty of running in the playground gets a 5 year minimum prison sentence.

who the fug

How do you ban a child from running

RedXIV

Ah when I was in primary school I moved schools in 4th class from a school that encouraged sports to a school that banned running. It was a much smaller yard, for about 300 pupils there was maybe an acre of a yard?

It had a big white outline of a rectangle in it and if you were caught running you had to walk up and down this line for the rest of your lunch. Wasn't too bad when there was loads at it because the teachers couldn't keep track who was and wasn't on it, but on the days when you were caught on your own, walking the line sucked massive donkey balls

Abi

I don't remember being allowed to run about in the playground when I was in primary. There was a grass area beside the playground, and there was a fence dividing the two. The rule was different for the grass area. That said, one day a boy in my class was running along with the ball, tripped and got his head jammed in the fence.

I agree with the idea that children should be able to do activities during their yard time where they can get some exercise, though it's a bit of a headache for the schools accident-wise.

I think they should do away with the tarmac in the school playgrounds, and put in that stuff the councils put in the playgrounds in local parks. Don't know the name of the stuff, but it's kinda spongey?

They might need spongey fences too though :pac:

Miss Olenska

MrStuffins wrote: »

Yeah, I did my bloody Leaving Cert in '02 (I did transition year and all)

Jaysus, to be a young man again

Eh, doing your LC in '02 only makes you about 27. Will ya relax!

Caveman1

Most kids bring PSP's into school for break time now or there I pods, gone are the days when we would have to kick a can around because we didnt have a ball :cool:

Davidth88

No this is true , my daughter's school does not allow running in the yard .


Totally stupid.

Abi

who the fug wrote: »

How do you ban a child from running

The supervising teachers prevent it, and send the kids to the wall etc as a penalty.

MrStuffins

Miss Olenska wrote: »

Eh, doing your LC in '02 only makes you about 27. Will ya relax!

Yeah but i'm not getting younger

I wish I was 25 again. If I was, then I could wish I was 23 again ..... again

mikemac

Miss Olenska wrote: »

Elf n' Safety

The only paper that use that term is the Daily Mail
Lets keep it off boards


And yes, we were banned from running and playing football in the playground.
Compo culture, don't you young whippersnappers remember it? Claims everywhere, a thousand punts per stitch was the minimum you'd get.
Hell there was a supermarket near me with badly lit steps and I'd gladly take a tumble for a few thousand

Businesses shut down over claims and schools were struggling with the insurance

Abi wrote: »

The supervising teachers prevent it, and send the kids to the wall etc as a penalty.

You make it sound like a firing squad :eek:

hooradiation

Immaculate Pasta wrote: »

No they haven't changed the rules as far as I know. Anybody who gets found guilty of running in the playground gets a 5 year minimum prison sentence.

10 years dungeon, no trial.

Tough on running, tough on the causes of running.

MrStuffins

who the fug wrote: »

How do you ban a child from running

Breaking their legs will normally do it!

Miss Olenska

mikemac wrote: »

The only paper that use that term is the Daily Mail
Lets keep it off boards

It was tongue-in-cheek, Mike, duh! :P

mikemac

Gumbo

yeah they banned us from playing Bulldog when i was in school :mad:

The King of Moo

They're probably being encouraged to run because they're obese from being banned from running for so long.

We were allowed to run in primary school though they probably should have banned me from running as my only real memory of doing so involves me tripping over a kerb and flying head-first into the bonnet of a teacher's car.

Robbo

mikemac wrote: »

The only paper that use that term is the Daily Mail
Lets keep it off boards


And yes, we were banned from running and playing football in the playground.
Compo culture, don't you young whippersnappers remember it? Claims everywhere, a thousand punts per stitch was the minimum you'd get.
Hell there was a supermarket near me with badly lit steps and I'd gladly take a tumble for a few thousand

Businesses shut down over claims and schools were struggling with the insurance




You make it sound like a firing squad :eek:

It's callowness on the part of the insurance companies for settling all of these matters rather than properly fighting them. I'm open to correction if there's something more recent, but I believe the judgment in Flynn -v- O'Reilly is still instructive here:

The duty of a school master is to take such care of his pupil as a careful parent would of his children. When normal healthy children are in the playground it is not necessary that they should be under constant supervision. Even accepting that the field was uneven and that running backwards is more hazardous than running forwards, to hold that the activity ought to have been forbidden would be to impose standards, approaching absolute liability, which are unreasonable having regard to all the circumstances. Lennon v. McCarthy Supreme Court 1966 No. 5, 13 July 1966 applied .

I really am curious as to the origins of these urban myths which grow traction. Whilst I am aware that there were a large number of claims in the pre-PIAB era, most of these were settled rather cheaply by lazy insurers who were too quick to pay out but then moaned to the consumer that the premium had to go up for this very reason.

Abi

mikemac wrote: »

You make it sound like a firing squad :eek:

It was just short of it :pac:

who the fug

Abi wrote: »

The supervising teachers prevent it, and send the kids to the wall etc as a penalty.

I suppose they get a lecture on childhood obesity when they return to class

Abi

who the fug wrote: »

I suppose they get a lecture on childhood obesity when they return to class

You know thats the thing that baffles me about this. The schools now run healthy eating programmes, where you cannot give any sweets, chocolate, fizzy drinks etc for lunches. That's not a bad thing by any means, but they also say it should be combined with exercise to keep their bodies healthy. Why bother if they're barely allowed to fart in the playground

Captain Darling

When i was in National School in the '80s we had running battles in this big mucky area. The whole school used to split in two and we'd kick the sh1te out of each other. It was an all boy school and it was a real kip. Never mind running we were allowed cycle in the yard. The place was bonkers. Nobody was ever killed, maimed maybe, but never killed.

J. Marston

I remember seeing a bad injury from a kid running in the playground. We were playing chase and some boy fell and scraped his nose along the floor. It was like someone took a cheese-grater to his face.

who the fug

J. Marston wrote: »

I remember seeing a bad injury from a kid running in the playground. We were playing chase and some boy fell and scraped his nose along the floor. It was like someone took a cheese-grater to his face.

Bet he was the uber cool bloke next day with all them scabs

bijapos

Kildare Place National School on the Upr Rathmines Rd definitely banned running around for a few years, it could still be banned for all I know. They were terrified of the compo culture, a lot of well heeled parents send their kids there.

I know first hand of an incident about 15 years ago where the nephew of a former Attorney General fell off a windowsill, (one which he was repeatedly warned not to get up on), and the school literally begged the parents not to sue. The parents made the school accept responsibility in writing in case they wished to sue in the future. interestingly a number of children were told by these parents to make statements on the issue. This was done without the permission of the parents of the children which in itself breaches all sorts of laws.

The fact that kids aren't allowed to run freely in schools is mindless and retarded imo, the government could easily bring in legislation to stop this kind of crap, or indeed a lot of the compo culture that exists in this country, but they never will; reason: the Minister for justice is essentially always a solicitor or barrister and he would be cutting off the milk and honey tap for a lot of his/her mates.

Ironically enough this morning on the radio there was some guy on about rising obesity in 9 year olds and how the government is going to tackle this. Letting them run around in the fresh air might be a start.

flutterflye

That's mad Ted.
My son has been in 4 primary schools - he has been allowed run in them all!
I've never heard such craziness!
Must be just certain schools.
One of my son's primary schools wouldn't allow any gun play, so no fingers/sticks etc.. as guns, otherwise they wouldn't be allowed out in the yard the next day - bit stupid if you ask me, but not as bad as not being allowed to run!

J. Marston

who the fug wrote: »

Bet he was the uber cool bloke next day with all them scabs

I remember he was missing for a few days but when he came back, his scars didn't look cool. He looked like he had leprosy on his face.

Sonics2k

Abi wrote: »

I don't remember being allowed to run about in the playground when I was in primary. There was a grass area beside the playground, and there was a fence dividing the two. The rule was different for the grass area. That said, one day a boy in my class was running along with the ball, tripped and got his head jammed in the fence.

I probably shouldn't of laughed at this.

Dravokivich

Couldn't run in the school yards when I was in primary either.

Doesn't make sense if it was a health and safety thing as the PE halls were concrete floors with a bit of carpet on them.

Robbo

J. Marston wrote: »

I remember he was missing for a few days but when he came back, his scars didn't look cool. He looked like he had leprosy on his face.

I hope to god you all did the decent thing and yelled "Unclean! Unclean!" at him whenever the bell rang.

frisbeeface

Robbo wrote: »

It's callowness on the part of the insurance companies for settling all of these matters rather than properly fighting them. I'm open to correction if there's something more recent, but I believe the judgment in Flynn -v- O'Reilly is still instructive here:



I really am curious as to the origins of these urban myths which grow traction. Whilst I am aware that there were a large number of claims in the pre-PIAB era, most of these were settled rather cheaply by lazy insurers who were too quick to pay out but then moaned to the consumer that the premium had to go up for this very reason.

Quoted for truth.

Insurance companies are mostly at fault here. Pretty much no judge is going to find a school in the wrong in any of these cases. Schools have insurance against being sued however, and the insurance company will usually decide that it's easier for them to throw the parents a few grand and raise premiums rather than go through the long and costly court process. This payout to the parents is what gets reported to the press.

I guess it isn't just insurance companies that are the problem. I blame:
- insurance companies
- expensive legal system
- greedy/stupid parents

who the fug

Robbo wrote: »

I hope to god you all did the decent thing and yelled "Unclean! Unclean!" at him whenever the bell rang.

The school bell would have to be used for the complete effect

the_syco

I remember trip bulldog being banned, but "normal" bulldog being okay back in the nineties...

Also, there are three primary schools next ot each other (used to be a boys and girls and one other), and there was a rule banning people going from one playground to another. So some people would do a lap of all three schoolyards.

Rules regarding schoolyards were seen as something to break at the time... :pac:

bodhrandude

krudler wrote: »

I am very old.

Same, I left primary in 1977 LOL.

hardCopy

I went to one primary school where running was banned.

Then another where football was encouraged during lunch hour.

The end walls of the yard were divided up into about 8 sets of goals, immediately next to each other. You'd have 8 matches running in parallel on the same slab of concrete.

It was a bit mad but strangely the only injury that seemed to happen a lot was people getting hit in the face by the ball. For some mad reason they tried to prevent this by banning size 5 footballs so we ended up with these tiny, hard plastic toddlers mini-footballs that would cave your face in if you got hit. I think by the time I left they had switched to using lightweight beach-ball type things.

stovelid

We weren't allowed to.

We just got our exercise by mercilessly bullying fat kids though.

conorhal

All this on a day when a report is released showing that a quater of all nine year olds are a bunch of chubsters and future heart attacks just waiting to happen:

http://www.independent.ie/health/health-news/fat-nation-study-finds-a-quarter-of-irish-nineyearold-children-are-overweight-2929432.html

It kind of makes you wonder which is the more dangerous activity, running or sitting on your (lardy) arse......

MrStuffins

MrStuffins wrote: »

Yeah, I did my bloody Leaving Cert in '02 (I did transition year and all)

Jaysus, to be a young man again

i did mine in 2001.
i'm still young though :pac:

Katekat

Our primary school allowed running around and also you had to take up a sport either comogie/hurling or Gaelic football. And the boys and girls ended up playing together, which meant you were one tough cookie by the time you left.

I wouldn't blame insurance companies 100%, unfortunately, when it comes to claims involving minors the court will always look more favourably on the minors side than the school, even if they were doing backflips blindfolded. :rolleyes:

Logical Fallacy

Katekat wrote: »

even if they were doing backflips blindfolded. :rolleyes:

That will soon be outlawed in case the kids catch the gay.

J. Marston

Robbo wrote: »

I hope to god you all did the decent thing and yelled "Unclean! Unclean!" at him whenever the bell rang.

God, I've just realised what an opportunity I've missed. I never liked the little shít either so it would have been all the more satisfying.

LeixlipRed

who the fug wrote: »

How do you ban a child from running

Tie his little legs together...

caesar

Robbo wrote: »

It's callowness on the part of the insurance companies for settling all of these matters rather than properly fighting them.

I really am curious as to the origins of these urban myths which grow traction. Whilst I am aware that there were a large number of claims in the pre-PIAB era, most of these were settled rather cheaply by lazy insurers who were too quick to pay out but then moaned to the consumer that the premium had to go up for this very reason.

Being from an insurance background I can only somewhat agree. At the end of the day they are going to take the most cost effective option as they see it. Having said that, if they were to fight them it would probably end up being more expensive in the short term, but very cost effective in the long term as compo culture would take a hit for the better. Insurers would then be probably criticised for wriggling their way out of paying claims. Pre-PIAB, too young to remember I'm afraid.

bijapos wrote: »

The fact that kids aren't allowed to run freely in schools is mindless and retarded imo, the government could easily bring in legislation to stop this kind of crap, or indeed a lot of the compo culture that exists in this country, but they never will; reason: the Minister for justice is essentially always a solicitor or barrister and he would be cutting off the milk and honey tap for a lot of his/her mates.

Compensation culture is a disgrace in this country. It's a societal problem to the point that some of the people condemning politicians, bankers et al. are the very ones who see nothing wrong with compensation for nothing. The legal profession have a lot to answer for. Those lawyers4u type ads make me sick and the "no win, no fee" thing.

Interesting point about government's reason for not bringing in legislation.

frisbeeface wrote: »

Insurance companies are mostly at fault here. Pretty much no judge is going to find a school in the wrong in any of these cases. Schools have insurance against being sued however, and the insurance company will usually decide that it's easier for them to throw the parents a few grand and raise premiums rather than go through the long and costly court process. This payout to the parents is what gets reported to the press.

I guess it isn't just insurance companies that are the problem. I blame:
- insurance companies
- expensive legal system
- greedy/stupid parents

I agree to a point, but take the view that the very ones who started this whole culture were not the insurance companies. However, I would question their whole lets just pay a few grand and nip it in the bud approach in the early days. I know I'm somewhat biased due to my background, having intimate knowledge of the industry and all that, but there is no getting away from the fact that greedy parents/individuals are at the core of the problem along with the legal profession.

candy-gal1

yeah i finished primary in 1999, running in the schoolyard was against the rules, didnt stop us doing it though, youd just have to make sure the teachers walking around supervising were walking the other way, or youd get a right ear full :rolleyes: