A Toronto school recently banned hard balls after a parent was hit by a soccer ball and suffered a concussion.
Is this an overreaction?
I don't think so. Hard balls freaking hurt. And they do hit people. I know. I was an accident prone child.
But the problem isn't the balls. As I found out, the problem is with teachers and parents who don't say:
"Hey Johnny, maybe you shouldn't kick that ball into a crowd of people" or
"Hey, maybe we should ban ball-playing near doors" or
"Hey, maybe we should take ball privileges away from children who kick balls four feet into the air" or
"Hey, maybe some kids don't have good aim" or
"Hey, remember when we learned in physics that things moving at a high speed will travel farther than those moving at a slow speed?" or
"Hey, I don't think that kid knows how to throw underhand" or
"Hey, maybe this ball could hurt someone" or
"Hey, I just realized that ringing my bell doesn't deter or correct unsafe activity."
It was the same thing when they tore down the playground because it was unsafe. Yeah, it was unsafe. Kids did stupid things because they weren't supervised, weren't punished and preventative safety measures weren't enforced.
But it's not really an issue until someone gets hurt.
Well, about every year I slipped and fell on the ice that coated the entire pavement at my school in winter, but it wasn't removed. Of course not. I wasn't seriously hurt. Their solution? Keep Ashley inside during recess. Seriously.
I'm surprised they let me walk outside after someone tripped me on a crowded school Terry Fox Walk and I lost half of my tooth.
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