We Want a Pitcher Not a Belly Itcher

While I usually can't stand his right wing crap, this article from Charlie Sykes is pretty good and I generally agree. In "The wimpification of America - Nanny state revives itself as new school year begins" he talks about the over protective nature of schools and parents today. The article is full of examples of things that have been banned which we all grew up with and turned out ok.

Little League bans chatter during ball games

If you're saying, 'Swing, batter,' and this poor little kid is swinging at everything, he feels bad and maybe he turns to the catcher and gets mad.

More:

Other schools have already banned swings, merry-go-rounds, teeter-totters, crawl tubes, even sandboxes. One California school district — worried about "bullying, violence, self-esteem and lawsuits" — also banned tag, cops and robbers, touch football and every other activity that involves "bodily contact."

I generally think that these efforts are knee jerk reactions to problems incidents or complaints by some people and do not consider what you are losing. I am glad he doesn't say anything about this being a democrat/ republican issue because it is not but I am sure he is thinking that only democrats would do such dumb things.

One specific thing he uses as an example is shaded playgrounds in North Carolina. First point is that these are being installed all over the south, not just there. Second, while not really necessary in Wisconsin, these are well needed in the South. The parks we visit in Florida are misribiale without shade, nobody, parents, kids anyone would want to hang out in the direct sun when it is 90 degrees. I agree that many parents are a little nuts about not letting their kids ever play in the sun, gasp.