Red Rover officially safe for school children again

I was so caught up in the stabbing/murder news yesterday that I totally forgot to even mention the story Pat mentioned on NY1, reported in the Daily News, about how New York state, in an effort to increase summer camp regulation, had passed a law that would shut down any recreation program that tried to "implement two or more games without state certification," for fear the games are too risky, according to Pat's Papers. The games in question? Such dangerous activities as Freeze Tag and Red Rover.

Well, Pat noted this morning that the story has ostensibly been retracted-I can't remember exactly what was said, but apparently the outcry caused the officials to promise they would review the list of so-called dangerous games that the state had compiled.

This is good news, because kids today are already a little too coddled. As my husband observed--after seeing the 100th or so child in our neighborhood on one of those pedal-free Skuut bikes, and noting that the child was wearing a helmet despite the LACK OF PEDALS--"we are not exactly raising the next generation of Marines, are we?"

Now, some safety improvements of the last few years have been great. I'm all for car seats, pregnancy-related health warnings about smoking, etc. But the pendulum can, and sometimes does, swing too far. For example, when's the last time you saw a see-saw on a playground?

That said, lots of Brooklyn parents seem to be very fond of dragging their children to bars, so maybe it all evens out...

Anyway, I don't have kids yet, so I clearly don't know what I'm talking about. Parents, I said it so you don't have to!