Tag and Other Childhood Activities

Tag and Other Childhood Activities
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/frank_deford/10/25/tag/
25 October 2006

Neanderthal or not, I have to agree with Frank Deford that there is something seriously foolhardy about banning some of the most basic childhood activities, especially those that encourage physical development while simultaneously helping individuals to develop a lifelong sense of self. What is childhood if not an ideal time to identify one’s boundaries as well as potential horizons?

Now, don’t get me wrong – I think Deford makes far too sweeping a generalization in lumping all educators in with the fanatics determined to eliminate all aspects of their own childhood experiences. Such folk belong with the critics who deem Roadrunner cartoons too violent for viewing by youngsters, for people who think that Little Red Riding Hood is worthy of censorship; (though, to be fair, Grimms Brothers tales and Aesop’s Fables in their original forms did tend to have a political bent to them, aimed as they were at adult target audiences.)

As much as I cherish the ideal of universal equality, I don’t think that it is possible to eliminate all elements of social interaction that indicate hierarchy, nor do I think it healthy.