School Bans Children From Doing Cartwheels And Handstands In The Yard!

Is it just me or does it seem like schools these days are hella different from when we were growing up? There I go sounding all ancient like again…back in my day…but it’s true!

I remember spending every recess swinging on the monkey bars in the hope of perfecting our double flip somersault dismount thingy. Our hands were covered in blisters and we wore them like a badge of honour. In fact if you were lucky enough to develop a blood blister then your status as a monkey-bar queen went up a notch!

These days our kids don’t come home with those kind of injuries because they’re not allowed to play like we did at recess. In fact at my boys’ school they’ve been banned from running in certain areas because it was too dangerous for the little kids (inner city playground problems). They also aren’t allowed to climb up the slide, swing a certain way or balance on the bars.

I get it. It’s for their safety. Also because parents these days are quick to sue the school for anything that happens to their child. Our parents would have NEVER dared to go against any teacher or God forbid the principal. We were sent to school and told to do exactly as we were told. No ifs or buts. The school had no fear- they were in charge and the parent knew it. These days it’s the parents who rule the roost and our educators are afraid to step out of line in case legal action is brought against them.

Take for example the school in WA that has just banned their kids from doing cartwheels and handstands in the playground because they deemed it to be “too dangerous.”

Parents at Bunbury Primary School say they are shocked the children aren’t allowed to engage in the practice on school grounds.

“My daughter told me last night going home and I think it’s absolutely ludicrous,” one parent said.

“I don’t know where it has come from, but that’s what they do and they’ve been doing it for years and I don’t know what the problem is with it,” another added.

The school says they were forced to take action because at least two students each day were going to the office with injured wrists.

“This is not about stopping kids from taking risks and having fun – but attempting things like flips or handstands on bitumen and sloping grassed areas without learning how to do it properly is never a good idea,” school principal Shane Dougherty said.

The school says the ban is only temporary at this stage until they can figure out a plan to keep the kid’s safe.

I kind of understand the school’s position because they have a duty of care to their students. If the children don’t know the correct way to do a hand stand or cartwheel it could result in some serious damage to their spines. But on the flip side, isn’t that how kids learn? By doing? I don’t know, I’m on the fence with this one. What do you think?

Photos: Channel 7