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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

Football, basketball and bulldog banned in playground.

63 replies

Spidermama · 17/03/2011 13:21

I think this is ridiculous.

Does anyone else's school ban these things?

Aparently someone broke his wrist playing bulldog but kids break their wrists for all sorts of reasons don't they? It's part of childhood.

In my day bulldog involved catching and holding on to the people who are running across. These days it's just tagging them aparently.

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bellavita · 17/03/2011 20:50

Bulldog is banned at our primary.

gorionine · 17/03/2011 20:50

Thanks mrz, No I have not seen the children play that game or even mention it but have no idea if it has been banned or if the children arround here just do not play it.

polarfox · 17/03/2011 20:57

Bulldog banned, conkers banned, football sometimes banned, skipping rope banned etc

diabolo is right.

And they come home with sheets about the injuries all the time, some times I truly cant even see the injury- waste of paper and time..

These kids will be so soft soon it will be embarrasing! Not allowed out when a bit of frost/ slight wind/ too much sun..

Put it this way: Spartans they would never be!

gorionine · 17/03/2011 21:05

Belive me polarfox those injury notes are a pain for those who have to write them too. You can be sure that the day you just go with common sense and decide not to write one, the teacher then tells you that with such and such child's parents 'it is better to write one however small the "injury" was' or the parent complain that their little darling mentionned getting hurt at break and 'why were we not told about it?'. Much better to write everything all the time and go home with a totally free mind

gorionine · 17/03/2011 21:13

believe and mentioned, sorry!

polarfox · 17/03/2011 21:13

I can imagine gorionine, I know the type !!

mrz · 17/03/2011 21:20

conker myth

polarfox · 17/03/2011 21:39

Felt sorry for my lot- we have a large conker tree and they took some in, and were told to bring them home.. The look on their faces...

RoadArt · 17/03/2011 22:56

Change school.

Our school allows kids to do every kind of sport they want - they just expect kids to follow basic safety rules.

If they dont experience something at school, they will never learn whether they can do it or not.

If they get hurt then so be it, thats life!

seeker · 17/03/2011 23:02

Depends on the space available. Football in particular takes over the playground, the alpha males play it and there's no room for boys who don;t like football and girls to play anything. It really has to be segregated for everyone;s sake.

Not sure about basketball - unlee the playground is very small and the basketball court takes up most of it.

Bulldog is also a very invasive game - and spoils playtime for kids who don;t want to play it.

pinkgirlythoughts · 18/03/2011 09:34

Bulldog was banned at my primary school in the mid 90s- now I play it in P.E. with my class!

blackeyedsusan · 18/03/2011 09:37

Football in a small playground can be a nightmare, the big y6's really terrify the small reception children. would you like your 4 year old flattened by an 11 year old? Not such an issue in summer on the field or in separate playgrounds for infant and junior, but when 200 odd childen are sharing one small space it is not a good idea.

Original poster

Spidermama · 18/03/2011 13:38

Blaeyed this is a junior school so no reception kids. Also there's a football- pitch size lower playground crying out to be used.

I guess I can understand not wanting windows to be broken etc -- but still. No football! In a playground.

OP posts:

seeker · 18/03/2011 13:50

Football needs to be segregated - it really does. Or it takes over, physically and psychologically. Girls and non -football playing boys end up squashed into a tiny corner or round the edge.

It's a bit lazy just to outright ban it if there is room for it, but it is very difficult to monitor properly.

And also, it's good for boys to think of other things to do sometimes - our school has No Football Fridays even though there is a separate football area. It really makes the boys think about what they want to do, rather than defaulting to football.

Fimbo · 18/03/2011 14:00

I work as a midday supervisor and it can and very often is an absolute nightmare with games like football, four square, just even simple playground equipment like skipping ropes and bean bags.

The kids fight with each including full on whacking each other to pieces. They deliberately trip each other over, punch each other in the stomach etc etc. Then you have the "wailers" who cry because they are out and can't accept it. Then there are all the little mr/miss angrys who again can't accept that they are out and shout and bawl at everyone.

When the fighting gets too excessive then whatever game is causing the problem gets stopped as a punishment. Currently we have one game banned until after the Easter holidays.

With regards injuries we have to give out notes especially for head injuries also followed up by a phone call to the parent. There are notes for something like a nose bleed or a bad scrape etc. You can be guaranteed that when you forget because you are running round trying to separate the fighting squad that will be the day a parent comes storming into school demanding to know what has happened to little johnnie.

Fimbo · 18/03/2011 14:03

I think also a lot does come down to the parents. If either of my children ever hurt themselves I just think it is part and parcel of my life but there are a lot of other parents who create merry hell because their child has a dot sized scrap on their finger.

campergirls · 18/03/2011 14:15

British Bulldog was banned in my primary school back in the 1970s.

blackeyedsusan · 18/03/2011 14:52

shame about the football sized playground. getting children to run around and let off steam benefits everyone. I'm all for football if there is space... though i like the sound of no football fridaays...

pointydog · 18/03/2011 17:08

SPider, has it been banned temporarily due to arguments?

Original poster

Spidermama · 18/03/2011 18:04

No it's been banned for about five years pointy. They banned knitting club too last year. Also Match Attacks.

I seem to remember the playground was as complete free for all when I was a kid with virutally no supervision at all. I honestly don't think there were any staff in the playground when I was a kid. It was a very important part of our dvelopment though . Perhaps it would be better for adults to turn a blind eye.

I take your point about fussy parents but they shouldn't be allowed to make the rules for everyone else.

It's also a good point about football taking over psychologically and how it can be a default activity for people, mainly boys, to fall into.

Perhaps there should be two football-free days a week.

I don't think this over zealous controlling attitude to their playground behaviour is at all helpful for behaviour as a whole. They need time to let off steam and feel free to express themselves. I think it's breeding resentment at this school.

OP posts:

Dukeleto · 18/03/2011 22:34

(British) bulldog is often banned, yeah.
I think it's a bit sad if schools can't provide space and arrangements for kids to play football and basketball safely tho.

princessparty · 20/03/2011 18:34

In our version of bulldog the person being caught has to be lifted off ground??
Cartwheels and handstands are banned too, though strangely there doesn't seem to be a problem with girls doing gymnastic bars routines on the top odf the climbing frame

Butterbur · 20/03/2011 18:42

British Bulldog was banned at my primary school in the 60s. Along with Hop Barge (which we might have invented) - you hopped, you barged. If you put a foot down, you were out.

I can understand why both were banned.

Takver · 20/03/2011 18:48

I don't think its anything new. Football was only allowed at my 70s primary in summer when the field was dry enough - again, there wouldn't have been space in the small playground for anyone apart from the footballers. British bulldog wasn't allowed at all, and I remember in my last year French skipping (elastics) was banned after one too many kids went face first on the tarmac running over the elastic (one lost an adult tooth, I think, and that was the last straw).

(We did used to play British bulldog on roller skates, though, at the youth club - and amazingly, IIRC, no-one actually broke any limbs!)

spanieleyes · 20/03/2011 19:27

We have a seperate football playground with a rota so each day different year groups of children can play, the rest of the playground is zoned, basketball at one end, hopscotch etc at the other and running around in the middle! Reception/Yr1 have their own playground ( although in the summer term yr 1's are allowed "out"). We also have a large field which we use as long as it's not too muddy, with another football pitch/running track ( depending on the season) and trim trail. Bulldog is banned but stick-in-the mud is fine as long as they stay away from the zoned areas. I think the key is space, we have LOTS of it

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