School bans cartwheels to protect them from injury

[The Straight Story]

School bans cartwheels

School authorities in Australia have banned children from doing cartwheels in the playground to protect them from injury.

Belgian Gardens State School in Townsville, Queensland, has also outlawed handstands, somersaults and all "unsupervised gymnastic activities". Parents have complained that their children have been punished for doing cartwheels and are now bored with nothing to do at playtime.

Education minister Rod Welford has urged the school to think again saying "we are wrapping our children in cotton wool".

http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5gahhImEnXUDZDIDCq3aT74rykEbA

[baldguy]

1. .

:wow:

Childhood has been outlawe?

[MissHoneychurch]

2. Like it was sooooo bad for the kids in the past

when they did cartweels. I didn't because I am too clumpy, but gosh .... how about forgetting about childhood alltogether and put the children away in a safety cell :eyes:

[no_hypocrisy]

3. What's next? No balance beam or the Horse in gym? No ropes?

C'mon. How about adult supervision and the presumption that kids are gonna get banged up playing?

[provis99]

4. did they ban rubber bands, too?

I guess little Johnny can still shoot someone's eye out with a rubber band, as long as he doesn't do a cartwheel in celebration of his act...

[melody]

5. Why should we care if cartwheels are injured?

Oh, wait, never mind.

[trof]

6. How about skipping?

Can we still skip?
;-)

[SheilaT]

7. How the hell can you get hurt

doing cartwheels? Okay, so you might crash into another kid or some piece of playground equipment, but honestly!

I mean, whether you can do a good one or a lousy one, I fail to see the danger.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

8. I've never treated an injured cartwheel.

[The Straight Story]

15. give it time

:)

[sandyj999]

9. I grew up all those years ago when we didn't seem to need a helmet

to ride our bike or knee pads to roller skate on those bumpy sidewalks. I never knew of one kid dying from just being a kid. We took our bumps and bruises and actually were made better by it. They are now being so over-protective that these kids will all be wimps when they grow up.

[Stellabella]

10. Just because you didn't know anyone who died is meaningless.

"During the 20th century, breakthroughs in medicine and sanitation sharply reduced child mortality. By the century’s end, infection was no longer the most serious threat to children’s well-being. In 2002, accidental injury was the leading cause of death among children ages one to 14."

http://www.kidscount.org/datacenter/auxiliary/briefs/childdeathupdated.pdf

If all bicycle riders wore safety helmets, 500 bicycle-related deaths would be prevented every year (National Safety Council, 2001; Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute, 1999).

Child deaths from fire and flame injury have declined in recent years due to a combination of factors, including the increased use of smoke alarms in homes and new smoke-alarm laws, public education campaigns, and the availability of consumer products such as child-proof lighters and flame-retardant sleepwear.

In 2001, 864 children ages 14 and under died from unintentional airway obstruction injuries. A full 87 percent of those deaths were in children age four and under (NSKC, 2004).

And edited to add this:

Some 200,000 children ages 14 and younger require hospital emergency room treatment each year because of playground accidents — most often falls. Forty-five percent are severe—fractures, internal injuries, concussions, dislocations, and amputations.

[sandyj999]

11. OK Properly noted. n/t

[Stellabella]

12. Thanks.

[depakid]

13. See how long that lasts...

[Javaman]

14. This reminds me of the episode of the Simpson's where the kids have to wear uniforms to school...

a trance like Lisa Simpson, walks over, touches Milhouse and intones, "it is you that is "it" now".

LOL