Playground tig ban at Leeds primary school criticised
- Published
Other primary schools in England have enacted similar bans on games involving physical contact
A primary school's playground ban on the game "tig" has been criticised by parents.
Christ the King school, in Bramley, Leeds, introduced the rule after children's "clothes were torn" and pupils were left "upset".
Billy Salkeld, who has a child at the school, said: "The world's gone crazy, kids can't do 'owt these days."
The school said the temporary measure, which started in January, was to allow pupils time to "settle down a bit".
The site has a "Five Rules" policy, which includes "keep hands to self".
Dawn O'Toole, a parent who used to work at the school as a playground supervisor, said she was told to stop children playing tig about a year ago as it was "causing arguments".
'Air tig' OK
She said: "If we saw them playing tig, we had to go over to them and ask them to stop and find something else to play.
"I was very shocked, it is a natural game for children and the children themselves weren't very happy about it."
A child at the school said: "They've been letting us play 'air tig', but I don't like the fact we can't play proper tig."
The popular playground pastime, also known as "tag" or "you're it", is a chasing game that involves minimal physical contact.
Neil Ryan, head teacher at Christ the King, said: "While we are always keen to see our pupils enjoying games at break times, we've had a few instances recently of children being upset and having clothes torn during games of tig.
"As a temporary measure, and to allow the children some time to settle down a bit, we have decided to ask pupils not to play tig in our small playground for now.
"The space is quite small, which we believe contributed to some of the issues which have happened, but once the weather improves and the larger school field is available to use, the children will be able to play tig again."
Other schools have carried out similar moves, including a primary school near Bolton which banned tig in 2013 as it was causing "accidents" in a small playground space.