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

[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.

[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!