Wiffle Ball? Freeze Tag? No way, too dangerous!

[Acid Trip]

Pure silliness courtesy of people who have nothing better to do.

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local...120195644.html

Freeze Tag, Wiffle Ball Deemed Dangerous in New Summer Camp Regs
State creates “risky list” of activities to promote safety at summer camps.

Dodgeball, Red Rover, Wiffle Ball – those time-honored kids’ games, along with activities like Steal the Bacon and Capture the Flag – have been deemed dangerous by the state as part of an effort to tighten regulations for summer camps in the area.

Any indoor or outdoor recreational program that offers two or more organized activities, including one that falls on the “risky list” determined by state officials, will be considered a summer camp under the new rules and subject to the associated regulations.

The rules aim to curtail a loophole in previously passed regulations by the state Health Department that count activities like horseback riding and archery among the “risky list,” but do not include many activities like Freeze Tag and kickball featured in indoor programs.

At least one state legislator, Sen. Patty Richie (R-St. Lawrence County), fears the new rules will impair smaller programs’ ability to operate by requiring them to pay a $200 fee to register as summer camps.

However, Health Department spokeswoman Diane Mathis tells the Daily News the adapted “risky list” is merely a set of guidelines for recreational programs, and not all outfits that offer one of the activities on the list will be required to hire medical staff.

“There will be flexibility in how the law is implemented,” Mathis told the paper, adding that some programs may merely have to develop a plan to cope with medical emergencies to comply with the new regulations.

Still, Ritchie says including games like Freeze Tag on the “risky list” is a bit much.

“It looks like Albany bureaucrats are looking for kids to just sit in a corner in a house all day and not be outside,” she told the News. “I don’t think Wiffle Ball is a dangerous sport."

Parents appear divided on the issue, but at least one believes it’s wise to take precautions.

“Kids these days are kinda brutal so I can see those games being dangerous,” Bronx mom Kim Wainwright told the News.

[MrsM]

Really? How will this generation grow up? I guess I'll send my kids to mat camp - where they sit on a mat and stare at a wall for 6 hrs

[Acid Trip]

Really? How will this generation grow up? I guess I'll send my kids to mat camp - where they sit on a mat and stare at a wall for 6 hrs

Mat camp sounds like my job except replace mat with computer chair hehe.

[FBD]

we beat each other severely with wiffle ball bats on a regular basis when we were kids. they made great swords! I dont know why people feel we need to sterilize growing up

[Muddy]

We actually had a Jarts game when I was a kid.

[FBD]

hell yeah, those too!

[MrsM]

We actually had a Jarts game when I was a kid.

We had a set of those - until my brother was hit in the head and later died of a blood clot















J/K they were a blast

[DemonGeminiX]

I bet the people passing this legislation never won any of these games... and they were probably always the last to be picked.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

New York Health Officials Back Off Proposal to 'Legislate Fun'
FoxNews.com


New York health officials pulled back a proposal that would have placed new regulations on classic kid games like tag and Wiffle Ball that officials deemed unsafe.

Just in time for summer camp season, the list was delivered to towns, villages and camp operators, and in a surprise to many, games like kickball were placed in the category of “significant risk of injury.”

In turn, public outcry called for the state to stay off their handball courts.

Some had called it an attempt to "legislate fun," as the proposal faced increasing criticism from lawmakers and recreational sports businesses.

Dave Mullany, president of Wiffle Ball Inc., based in Shelton, Conn., told FoxNews.com that he was shocked to hear that lawmakers in Albany recently identified the activity as "poses a significant risk of injury" along with other iconic childhood pastimes, like dodgeball.

"It's crazy," Mullany said on Tuesday. "Amid all this talk of us becoming a nation of overweight kids, we really need to promote activity and kids having fun. Should these kids go to summer camp and sit quietly with their hands folded? It's a little disconcerting to see fun being legislated."

The New York Health Department maintains these lists make sure camps have the proper medical equipment to treat any injury that may result from any particular activity. The games range in danger from archery to kickball.

“A lot can be misread,” Claudia Hutton, a department spokeswoman told FoxNews.com. “For example, Arts and Crafts sounds like it’s glue and paint, but in some cases they use power tools.”

Leaders at the department are also relatively new and are working with legislation that was authored during the previous administration.

Hutton said the department is open to suggestions from residents before it implements any new guidance and the decision is likely to be made on May 16.

The department created the list of risky recreational activities in response to a state law passed in 2009. The law has yet to be implemented.

"People talk about how we're less and less active and that we're concerned about the increasing waistlines, so to kind of limit what kids do for activity and recreation is somewhat ludicrous," Mullany continued.

Mullany also noted that Wiffle Ball is the only activity identified by brand name.

"It catches you off-guard when you see something like this, and especially as the only brand name mentioned," he said. "I'm sure I'll be hearing from friends who are parents."

The games are not banned at camps, but they come at a play-at-your-own-risk cost. Camps that want campers to play the games will be required to pay a $200 registration fee and have medical staff on hand.

There are roughly 2,300 regulated summer camps in New York that are required to be under permit and be inspected twice a year by the state's Department of Health.

The state claims that this has resulted in markedly low levels of serious incidents. State statistics claim that of more than 640,000 children who attend camps, less than two-tenths of one percent are injured in any manner.

Games/activities on the warning list:

* Capture the Flag

* Crab Soccer

* Dodgeball

* Flag Tag

* Flag Football

* Ga Ga

* Kickball

* Nuk-em

* Red Rover

* Steal the Bacon

* Tag (all varieties)

[Muddy]

I see 'smear the queer' didn't make the list...

[Loser]

jesus fkin' christ what kinda idiots are they electing in up there...

[Hal-9000]

we played overhand horseshoes.....wanna talk dangerous?


and we had the dart set that muddygut posted ( rip Jimmy )

[Griffin]

...Steal the Bacon...

I have to admit, this was usually played after the counselors were asleep.

[Godfather]

We played full contact football without any gear in elementary school when there was enough snow on the ground.



This kind of thing is dribble... hard not to notice how drastically different playgrounds are from 1o years ago. No more gravel, no more firepoles, no more danger. Nerf the world. It's no wonder auto-immune diseases are on the rise. I was just talking to my GF's dad who is a well respected pediatric doctor. He hates how coddled kids are; what doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

One of my best buddies from childhood was embarrassingly over-nurtured. Emotionally, his mom walked him to school, kissed him on the lips and tucked him in for far, far too many years. And while a loving mother is one thing that is in demand these days, there's a more important aspect. Physically, he didn't play in the mud and get the bumps and bruises that boys should. One time he got a muddy snowball in his face and his mom sat there with an electric blow-drier until he was "ok"

He has severe Crones disease. I'm not claiming it wouldn't have happened, but the severity of his case is brutal - almost unsurprising if that makes any sense.

And statistically, amongst other things IBS is climbing in this country because our kids wreak of Purell Handwash and Sunscreen more than they do sweat and fresh-air

[Shady]

Fuck that, who ever heard of a kid getting seriously injured even by a wiffle ball to the face.

I can't wait til I'm 40-45 and I've got a bunch of snot nosed over protected bitches working for me. I will make their lives hell on earth.