Changing society
The UK is quickly becoming a ‘blame and sue’ society. A number of UK schools have banned traditional playground games in case pupils are hurt whilst playing the games on school premises, leading to suing by angry parents.

Banned games
Conkers are banned by some schools as they fear the horse chestnuts could be used as ‘offensive weapons’. One school banned skipping after some girls fell over.

One far fetched example is preventing children from making daisy chains, in case pupils pick up germs from the flowers. The charity The Children’s Society said the bans were ‘ludicrous! When you ban climbing frames or don't allow children to make daisy chains, we've gone too far. Why can't they be allowed to have fun?’

Pupils’ viewpoints
The bans have had a negative response from the pupils.

Emma is 13 and from Birmingham. ’The end of playground fun was ages ago at our school! No daisy-chains, no skipping, no running games, no taking paper and pencils outside, last five minutes in the shade on a hot day, no Yo-yo's, no football, no staying inside, no sitting down until the last five minutes, no drinking or snacks, no singing or dancing, no shouting or talking, only whispering, no whistling, no laughing; only walking and whispering, not even hand clapping games!’

Yasmin, who is 14 and from London, is upset by the situation. ‘In our school we had a really good playground with a long slide, climbing frame, swings, and a large mound type place which you could climb. Now all of that has been taken away for safety reasons. What are people supposed to do at breaktimes?’

Breaking through the red tape
Mr Halfpenny, a headteacher of a Carlisle primary school has bought safety goggles so that his pupils can continue playing conkers. Speaking from his school he states ‘I said they would have to wear goggles to play, mainly because they could get bits of conker in the eye. They thought it was a great idea. It's just being sensible. We live in a litigious society.’

Perhaps other schools need to follow Mr Halfpenny’s example and invent a way of playing games safely thus allowing the pupils to enjoy their childhood and not live in a sterile, play free environment.

Traditional playground games

Hopscotch (banned)
Game played with a stone thrown on a chalk grid players then hop on the grid and pick up the stone and mark off the square. The game is over when all the boxes have been marked.

Skipping (banned)
A fun way to develop rhythm. A minimum of three players are required - two to wave the ropes and sing chants while the other dances between them.

British Bulldog (banned)
Notorious for being banned because of the heavy emphasis on violence. The game begins as a kind of David and Goliath challenge, with one child standing alone as a mass of pupils charge directly at him. His job is to ‘bring down’ as many as possible. Those caught then also assume the role of ‘catcher’ against those that slipped through.

It/Tag
A perennial favourite, mainly because of its simplicity. You are ’it’, so you run around the playground until you ‘tag’ someone making them ‘it’. And so on. Kiss chase is one popular variation, where the act of tagging involves kissing your victim.

Marbles (banned)
Low on physical exertion, but good for hand-eye co-ordination. Marbles are small, hard balls made out of glass, steel, baked clay or even onyx. The object is to roll, throw or drop your marbles against those of your opponent, to knock them out of a prescribed area and so win them.

Leapfrog (banned)
One pupil bends over with his hands on his knees and back bent over in an arch shape. Another pupil jumps over him legs straddled, using his back as a leverage point.

Conkers (banned)
A conker is the seed of the horse chestnut tree. Each player has a conker hanging on its string. Players take turns at hitting their opponent's conker. The game goes on in turns until one or other of the two conkers is completely destroyed.

Nelly
June/July, 2007