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Playground alert level reduced to yellow

Contributed by: Mike Giorgi on 9/4/2007

The sighs of relief heard and felt by every American across Colorado since a Colorado Springs elementary school banned tag last Wednesday has been nothing less than enlightening.

Upon hearing the news, I ran outside and hugged other concerned parents in the middle of the street. You could hear the cheers and see the tears. Some were brought to their knees with emotion. The attention that this Colorado school has brought to this bloodsport may be enough to have all schools eliminate this emotionally and physically damaging game from ever surfacing again on American playgrounds.

This rates right along side with heightened airport security measures and the continual hunt for Osama bin Laden as actions taken to make sure our children (and grandchildren) can leave the house in the morning, go to school and feel safe once again on the playground.

Growing up, I have seen the damage that "tag".....

I'm sorry, just typing the word "tag" brings back such brutal emotional memories. For the sake of completing this article I will refer to "tag" as "Asphalt-Faced Piledrive" to help me get through the emotional distress.

I'll never forget seeing my 3rd grade buddy (Sheldon) damaged for life when he was playing "Asphalt-Faced Piledrive". Sheldon was a good kid that was about 3 feet tall and weighed 167 lbs at the age of eight. During one recess back in 1968, Sheldon was playing "Asphalt-Faced Piledrive". As he was running from a potential "Asphalt-Faced Piledriver", he attempted to wolf down a Hostess Ding Dong during the pursuit. Sheldon, not being the most gifted athlete, tripped and was subsequently gorged in the common cartoid artery by his school pencil compass. He eventually survived this horrid outcome from the devil driven game of "Asphalt-Faced Piledrive", thanks to the quick thinking of the playground monitor, Miss Totalitarian. She used the yellow police tape (which was being used to keep kids at bay from the dangerously outlined game of four square) to tie a tourniquet around Sheldon's neck, hence saving his life but rendering him a vegetable. He still to this day shakes like Danny Torrance from "The Shining" when he sees any type of "tag" on a piece of clothing.

Sheldon was the most obvious memory, since we were such good buddies. But there were many more "Asphalt-Faced Piledrive" casualties throughout my school years that included....dimemberment, broken bones, blindness, etc.

Personally, I somehow escaped the physical pitfalls of the game t-t-t-a-a-a.........I can't say it...."Asphalt-Faced Piledrive". Sheldon and I usually hovered within 5-6 feet of Miss Totalitarian, trying to pop our pimples and see who could achieve the greatest distance and hopefully land one on the playground monitors fancy new shoes.

But mentally, the nightmares of "Asphalt-Faced Piledrive" haunted me for years. I would wake up profusely sweating, imagining hundreds of hands reaching out to tag me, and as they would get within an inch or two of me, I would wake up...hysterically screaming. The stress, guilt and concern that I put my Mother through because of this senseless game must have been mind boggling.

Needless to say, now that I and many other parents know that this evil, physically and emotionally damaging game known as "tag" (I'm already starting to overcome the scars) is now getting the attention that it should, we feel like our children are heading off to a safer haven every morning.

We should stay aggressive and our goal should now be to lower the playground alert level from yellow (Elevated) to Blue (Guarded). The only way we can do that is to address other such heinous playground games like "Duck Duck Goose", "Red Light / Green Light" and the reprehensible...."Jacks".

Have you ever seen the loss of an eye by a jack? It's not a pretty sight.


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Showing 1-2 of 2 comments
Submitted By: Michael Rule
posted on 9/5/2007 @ 7:37:06 PM
Rated Story
We had a little room off the gymn at our Junior High called the "crackerbox". We would all get on our knees and play kill ball. Man, that was fun. I think it was banned way before tag.
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Submitted By: Jennifer Tool Holladay
posted on 9/5/2007 @ 10:07:18 AM
Rated Story
Thanks for the laugh!
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Showing 1-2 of 2 comments
CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Mike Giorgi

Lone Tree , CO

Mike Giorgi has posted 42 stories and 3 comments since joining on 3/9/2007. Mike Giorgi 's average story rating is 5.
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