Schools ban classic playground games

Are cartwheels and handstands too dangerous for kids?

A Western Australian school is the latest to ban the practice leaving parents and grandparents up in arms.

Bunbury Primary School reported that before the activity ban, 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 told Seven News.

The school says the ban is only temporary for now.

This school is certainly not alone in their thinking.

Kids being banned from activities like this has been making headlines for almost a decade.

In 2008 a Townsville School banned all gymnastics activities during lunch breaks, declaring it dangerous because it has the potential to cause back and neck injuries.

At the time, ABC news reported Education Queensland defended the ban on unsupervised gymnastic activities.

Regional executive director Vicki Baylis says fear of litigation was never a factor in the decision and it was made purely for the students safety.

“The issue around the gymnastics is around the safety of the kids and it was not motivated by any concept of litigation, but certainly [by] that safety and well-being component of those kids when we’re talking heads and necks and potentially backs if there were an injury.”

Other schools all around Australia have followed suit over the years, most banning cartwheels and handstands.

Some have also included bans on hanging upside down on the monkey bars, skipping and tiggy because of the ‘potential problems’ with accidents.

What do you think? Should kids be allowed to do what they like in the playground?