Winner of "Most inappropriate response to behavior issues in small children EVER"

[delphipsmith]

A preschool in Philadelphia has prohibited its kids from acting like superheroes during recess. For realz. Because apparently the correct response to excessively rough play in five-year-olds is to BAN SUPERMAN.

The letter begins thusly:

PARENTS WE NEED YOUR HELP!
Recently it has been brought to our attention that the imaginations of our preschool children are becoming dangerously overactive...

Because yeah, IMAGINATION BAD. When I was in preschool I dressed as Batgirl for Halloween (and yes, I was adorable). Guess that won't be an option for anyone at this re-education camp school.

More here: Preschool Bans Kids From “Super Hero Play,” Doesn’t Even Have the Decency To Do It With Proper Grammar

And here: Preschool Bans Kids From Pretending to Be Superheroes, Misses Point of Childhood Completely .

Comments

[mundungus42.livejournal.com]

As Wonder Woman, I lasso these stupid cattle and leave 'em trussed up for the rodeo clown to mock. That was one metaphor too many, wasn't it?

[inamac.livejournal.com]

To be fair, the letter goes on to say that they're concerned about the violence kids are bringing to such games - but that's not confined to 'Superhero role-play' (in my day it was 'cowboys and indians), and is best addressed by banning violent games - not superheros.

[duniazade.livejournal.com]

*headdesk*

Reminds me of something I read on the BBC: there's a school where they don't want the kids to have best friends because "the others may feel excluded."

[squibstress.livejournal.com]

'Cause it's way easier than actually addressing specific behaviors. Next thing will be banning them from speaking during recess to deal with the fact that a few kids use bad language.

[dreamy-dragon73.livejournal.com]

Yes, let's not encourage too much imagination. It might lead to ~gasp~ independent thinking.
/sarcasm

[delphipsmith]

I love the idea of "mocking by rodeo clowns" as a punishment :)

[delphipsmith]

Exactly! Address the behavior, not whatever character they happen to be tacking the behavior onto. Now, if the kids had all been playing at being serial killers, I would fully support a ban on pretend play, but superheroes? Fighting tor truth and justice? Those are precisely the kinds of characters we want kids to emulate!

[delphipsmith]

Oh, FFS. How nutters is that? Pretending that life, the universe and everything will always treat everyone exactly equally is a big lie, and simply sets kids up for worse disappointments down the line. When one person aces a test, everyone does not get an A. When somebody falls in love with your best friend, they do not also fall in love with you. When one person at work gets a raise, everyone else does not get one. A better lesson to teach them would be how to deal with disappointment in a healthy and constructive manner: "I'm sorry Mary doesn't want to be your best friend. I know this hurts your feelings, but you can't make people feel something they don't. Now, why don't we invite Jane and Anne over to play?"

[delphipsmith]

Srsly. Not much thought went into this policy, I'm guessing. If certain kids have behavior issues, those issues will come out even if they're playing at being Mother Teresa ("Jenny, stop hitting the lepers...")

[delphipsmith]

Goodness yes, and Lord knows we don't want any of THAT sort of thing!!!