When I was a kid we all
played dodgeball. We played in during gym class, we played in on the
playground. It was one of our favorite games. Little did we know we
were engaged is legalized bullying. We never thought of it that way.
We just thought it was fun. There were kids who just were not made
to play dodgeball. These are the kids who can see someone throw a
ball right at them and not realize the point of the game is to get
out of the way of the ball. It's like these kids looked at the ball
coming at a fast rate of speed toward their body and believe it will
never hit them. Once they got clobbered in the head they realized it
was for real. With some kids, this only made them more stupid and
better targets. Once you are too afraid to move or think of how to
move, your number is up. I wonder what happened to many of those
kids who never quite grasped the concept of how to avoid getting hit
in the head with a dodgeball. It appears many of them grew up to be
researchers in Canada.
Below are excerpts from
the story with my valuable insights in italics.
In a totally serious
article published in Canada's National Post, researchers argue that
social justice demands the complete and total elimination of
dodgeball from the Canadian physical education curriculum, lest
children grow up to understand they can wield their privilege the way
they wield a rubber athletic ball.
This from a country
that gave the world the game of hockey. Where is the social justice
in hockey? It is a difficult sport where people grow up believing
they can obtain large contracts from being a brute with skates and
this gives them their privilege. Large NHL contracts come with a lot
of privilege. Maybe what these Canadians researchers need to do is
create a form of dodgeball played using skates and on ice. I'm sure
it could then become a very popular national past time in Canada.
The game, the group
claims is “miseducative" and force students to display
"hierarchies of privilege based on athletic skill," even
though the game is mostly just about throwing balls at other
children.
"Dodgeball is not
just unhelpful to the development of kind and gentle children who
will become decent citizens of liberal democracy. It is actively
harmful to this process," the researchers claim, adding that the
game is, at its core, "oppressive."
Hey, guess what?
Students who are the academically gifted types display hierarchies of
privilege based on their academic skills. The last thing anyone
wants to experience is getting in the middle of a nerd war. And
guess what else? Not playing dodgeball is unhelpful for the strong
child who can smack a future Canadian researcher in the head. I
think this guilty pleasure helps them vote for playing dodgeball as
well as become decent citizens in a liberal democracy. I think
taking away the ability of kids to play dodgeball is oppressive. I
say give me dodgeball or give me another fun game to play where I can
throw a ball at some frightened future researcher's head.
Part of the problem,
apparently, is that, unlike other nursery games and elementary school
sports, dodgeball puts the focus on other students. In order to
succeed in the game, you have to target other kids and hit them with
the ball. When you make humans the target, the researchers say, you
"legalize bullying" (because most of the targets are
smaller, weaker children).
I disagree with this
assertion. Games such as Alligator In the Swamp, British Bulldog,
and Tag played in their full-contact versions also put the focus on
other students. In order to succeed in these games, kids are
targeted. This builds character. I don't think these games legalize
bullying. They do give children who are smaller or weaker a chance
to prove themselves. During one momentous dodgeball game in high
school, a super nerd took out the captain of the football team and
won instant respect and recognition. The football team captain got
to take the nerd's sister out on a date. I guess it all worked out.
He was a nerd willing to pimp out his sister for a good cause.
Edutopia reports that
dodgeball, though a much-beloved memory for Gen-Xers and older
Millennials have little value for modern physical education teachers,
who want to focus more on developing social skills than showcasing
athletic prowess.
All I can say is the
gym classes in these places must really be boring. Why would social
skills need to be taught in gym class? Are they teaching things like
proper conversations to have when your muscles are weak and
undeveloped? Maybe they'll teach the correct etiquette for things to
say during a hockey game when you smash your opponent into the
boards.
“Pardon me, but I
would like you to know that smashing your face up against Plexiglas
and watching you be in pain and become enraged is nothing personal.”
“No offense taken. I
will make my best effort to return the favor and give you as much
pain and anger as you have given me.”
“Oh good, I'm so glad
we had this nice talk.”
“I agree, I learned
so much about polite conversations during gym class during school”
I don't know who these
Canadian researchers are, but it would be nice to have the
opportunity to throw a dodgeball at them.
Below is a link to the
story.
https://www.dailywire.com/news/48036/researchers-dodgeball-teaches-children-unethical-emily-zanotti
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