ARGH
I am NOT happy about this:
Recess is one of the best parts of the school day when you're a kid...But the Big Thinkers at the Neshaminy School District [PA] want to "restructure" recess with something called the "Peaceful Playground Project"..
"Peaceful Playground" will be adopted by the district's eight elementary schools in September. First, something called a "peace maze" will be painted on each playground. Kids at loggerheads with each other will walk the maze's seven steps of "conflict resolution." Neshaminy wants to change recess into "purposeful playtime," said Marcy Spigler, the district's "violence prevention coordinator." At recess, she said, it's common to see lots of kids standing around waiting their turn at kickball or soccer. But playground aides will train to present games that are played in small groups and that stress "inclusiveness"...
...kids will be encouraged to plan their recess activities. "Kids with nothing in mind before recess tend to get in trouble if they don't schedule their recess," Spigler said. "We want to offer lots of options on the playground. We want to say, 'Think about what you might like to do at recess.' "
So speaks J.D. Mullane of Phillyburbs.com. Guess the kids don't even deserve a measly half-hour of their day to be free from brainwashing and propaganda. Choosing your own friends to play sports with is now verboten, thanks to its "inclusiveness." And using recess just to daydream, with no pressure to do the politically-correct activities? That's out now, too - hey, that's trouble, according to how Ms. Spigler defines it.
I used to live in this school district. My taxes went to supporting this kind of crap. J.D. must be a local taxpayer too, because he doesn't sound too thrilled about it:
Neshaminy is trying to tame recess, to make it accessible to nerds, to make it a place where there are no skinned knees or bloody noses or hurt feelings. No one's really better than anyone else at anything. Everyone's "sensitive."
This is fine, if you want your kid to grow up to be Hans Blix.
A lot of us prefer that our kids learn their limitations the old-fashioned way: on their own, among their peers, in the sometimes brutal black-topped world of the school playground. You build character only when it's challenged. You must learn that life isn't fair. There's a pecking order...
It would be nice if those who came up with this "Peaceful Playground" stuff would take an afternoon and sit outside a playground anywhere, close their eyes, and listen. It isn't peaceful. It's joyful and it needs no improvement - skinned knees, bruised egos and all.
Via RightWingNews.