Who's 'it'?

What do Chef, Parachute, Mickey Mouse, Popeye, and Egg have in common?

They're all part of the Game & Watch series of toys by Nintendo!! Remember those little electronic playthings? I think the first ones came out in the early 1980s and I remember getting full-swing into the craze (my favorite was Chef; for some reason, I took a liking to the toqued fella juggling sausages and what-have-you)! Alas, too many other kids became fans of the toy and schools decided that banning it was a good idea. *grimace*

It was a few years before that the chinese garter -- yet another favorite pastime of mine -- was banned at our school's grounds. From what I heard, some kid sustained a broken bone in an attempt to get past what I assumed was the #4 or # 5 level of the "modified high-jump." Hence, it was back to Agawan Panyo, Agawan Base and Chinese Jackstones after that.

And now schools in the States are banning tag??

Schools are banning tag. What's next: musical chairs?
By Dean P. Johnson

PITMAN, N.J. – More and more elementary schools are banning the game of tag from playgrounds. Why? To prevent accidents (read: lawsuits) and to keep kids' self-esteem intact. But if physical harm and psychological harassment can be hidden in a simple game of tag, surely educational experts must be on alert for other forms of abusive playground games.

While patty-cake may seem innocent enough, who knows what's actually happening with all that slapping. And those rhymes! Why was Miss Mary Mack dressed in black, and what's up with this 50 cents to see an elephant jump so high it doesn't come back until the Fourth of July? Sounds like a drug-influenced song to me - something more likely heard at a Pink Floyd concert than at a playground.

Full story at The Christian Science Monitor