Childhood game of tag banned at an Orcutt elementary school

Posted: Mar 15, 2013 5:30 PM by Connie Tran, KSBY News
Updated: Mar 15, 2013 7:17 PM

Kids at local school not allowed to play tag

You probably played the game of tag when you were a kid, but Ralph Dunlap Elementary School in Orcutt has recently banned its students from playing the game, and that has a couple of parents upset.

Principal Liz Herbstreith said this year's enrollment size is around 650 students, and that is one of the reasons why she said it was time to crack down on the game of tag.

"I want him to be active and have fun, and they're sitting in a class for how many hours?" said fifth grade father Nick Georgeadis.

After Georgeadis found out his son and the other children at Ralph Dunlap were not allowed to play this childhood game anymore, he began to feel like regulations perhaps went just a little too far.

He said, "To the point where they can't even be kids anymore, and my son came up with the idea, he said, well maybe we should do a petition."

Georgeadis said his son's petition has more than 200 signatures from both his peers and some teachers. He said the drive to push for this petition is from his son's nature to care for others.

Principal Herbstreith said she is aware of the petition, but she commented that she has a job to do, and that is to keep all students safe. She said on Friday that several students a day were coming into the office with bloody injuries and head bumps because of the aggressive nature of tag, so in February, the ban on tag was enacted.

"To me that sounds ridiculous, I mean I think they would shut the school down if several kids a day were being hurt," said Georgeadis.

Principal Herbstreith said no parents have complained to her about this new rule, but Georgeadis said he has not heard of any parents complaining about the game of tag either. It is unknown when tag will return to the school yard of Ralph Dunlap, but Principal Herbstreith said perhaps when things calm down.

Bob Bush, the Superintendent of Orcutt Union School District said to KSBY on Friday, "It's a job as an administrator to maintain safety on campus. If something is going on on campus that is unsafe for children, then they need to stop it. The rule is in place for the safety of kids."