No wheelbarrow races. That was about the limit of activities students were banned from partaking in during school lunch hour back in my day (because wheelbarrow races and neck injuries go hand in hand). And at the risk of getting all ‘back in my day’ about it, the extreme behavioural policies that schools nowadays are enforcing, are getting fucking ridiculous. The latest instance in this plague of fun-policing is a ban on playground cartwheels and somersaults instigated by a Sydney primary school.
Drummoyne Public School in Sydney’s inner west has introduced a rule where children can perform cartwheels and somersaults only “under the supervision of a trained gymnastics teacher and with correct equipment. These activities therefore cannot be condoned during lesson breaks.” – A ludicrous rule that will prevent children from practicing and mastering a joyous pass-time known as showing off.
The cartwheel/somersault ban is the latest in a spate of similarly ridiculous school rules, such as the No Hugging and No High Fiving policy instated by a Victorian primary school earlier this year.
Primary schools need to get a grip. They have a responsibility to keep the children safe, so banning knifes, firearms and those tiny fingernail pinches are understandable restrictions, but don’t take away their schoolyard cartwheels and somersaults! Later in life having a firm grasp of cartwheeling could prove to be the point of difference that leads to you SHUTTING DOWN a dunk contest:
Or being a really huge medium Liverpool fan.
Via Daily Telegraph
Photos by Michael Steele, John Moore for Getty Images
