The headlines ask Is dodgeball too dangerous for kids? I’ll let Overlawyered.com cover this
in full, but I just have to wonder about a lawsuit that claims teacher-supervised dodgeball is
too dangerous for 7-year-olds and inappopriate for grammar school gym classes. I’d like to see
stats that compare injuries from dodgeball with pee-wee sports like soccer, baseball and football,
which seem to be fine with the very same folk who think dodgeball is too warlike. Why not
just have the little kids use softer balls? Would this case exist without a potentially big dollar
payout for the lawyers? (Lawsuit aims to put dodgeball on trial (Newsday/AP, Nov. 19, 2004)
Updates: (Nov. 21): Walter Olson treats this topic here.
(Nov. 22, 2004): Wikipedia has a good, brief history of “dodgeball” and has this
to say about the current Controversy:
“Dodgeball, when it emerged, was touted as the “nerd’s sport”. Since players
normally were not part of a team, no player had to endure the teasing that would
fall upon a player accused of “causing the team to lose”. As well, the game was
seen as having a light-hearted and self-deprecatory nature and, therefore, more
amenable to non-athletic students.
“Ironically, dodgeball has come under attack for failing to meet the needs of precisely
those students. Opponents of dodgeball have argued that the game provides, for
bullies, the excuse to abuse unathletic and unpopular students, by throwing the
ball hard enough to cause injury.”
fall’s first chill —
the football
bounces louder
driver’s training–
the instructor’s hairy arm
hangs out the window
credits: both poems – Haiku Happens 1998
by dagosan:
clogged drain–
300-pound plumber
under the sink
[Nov.20, 2004]
Saturday Searchee Bonus: I haven’t posted this yet on the Inadvertant Searchee page, but
had to chuckle over our 1st Place showing in the Google Search won’t stop mentioning prior relationships>.
Have no idea why someone was Googling amputee+happy>, but I hope it was therapy, not depravity. [we
came in #72 of 73,000 results.
November 20, 2004
dodgy logic
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