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

Miss Olenska · 09-11-2011 12:20PM #1

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 · 09-11-2011 12:27PM

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

MrStuffins · 09-11-2011 12:30PM

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 · 09-11-2011 12:36PM

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 · 09-11-2011 12:40PM

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 · 09-11-2011 12:42PM

krudler wrote: »

I am very old.

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

Robbo · 09-11-2011 12:43PM

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 · 09-11-2011 12:43PM

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 · 09-11-2011 12:44PM

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 · 09-11-2011 12:45PM

How do you ban a child from running

RedXIV · 09-11-2011 12:46PM

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 · 09-11-2011 12:48PM

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 · 09-11-2011 12:48PM

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 · 09-11-2011 12:48PM

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 · 09-11-2011 12:48PM

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

Totally stupid.

Abi · 09-11-2011 12:49PM

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 · 09-11-2011 12:50PM

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 · 09-11-2011 12:50PM

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 · 09-11-2011 12:50PM

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 · 09-11-2011 12:50PM

who the fug wrote: »

How do you ban a child from running

Breaking their legs will normally do it!

Miss Olenska · 09-11-2011 12:51PM

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 · 09-11-2011 12:52PM

Gumbo · 09-11-2011 12:54PM

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

The King of Moo · 09-11-2011 12:56PM

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 · 09-11-2011 01:02PM

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 · 09-11-2011 01:15PM

mikemac wrote: »

You make it sound like a firing squad :eek:

It was just short of it :pac:

who the fug · 09-11-2011 01:18PM

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 · 09-11-2011 01:24PM

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 · 09-11-2011 01:26PM

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 · 09-11-2011 01:31PM

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 · 09-11-2011 01:34PM

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

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

Comments