Time for a rousing game of Tug of Fun!

I was listening to the radio this morning, and a person wrote in about some of the PC actions being taken in her kids' elementary school gym classes:

--"tug of war" has been renamed to "tug of fun." Having war in the name is too negative of a connotation.

--dodge ball now constitutes throwing the ball at cones instead of at other kids.

--no more playing tag, because being chosen as "it" may damage the kids' self-esteem and needlessly single them out.

Okay, I am officially declaring that this PC movement has gone too far. Tug of fun--REALLY?!?! That's lame. LAAAAAME. Come on--having "war" in the game's name isn't going to make the kids pick up a grenade and start hurling them at each other.

And throwing the dodge ball at cones. Oooooooh now that's a hearty fun time! No wonder kids hate school. I'd be forced to start punching people if I had to do that kind of stupid stuff for gym class.

Oh, and tag is apparently too damaging for a child's self-esteem. Because being called "it" must make them need years of therapy.

Guess what? I played dodge ball and had the crap hit out of me. I came out with bruises all the time because I wasn't smart enough to dodge. I also gave it like I got it and flung the ball at kids. I loved tug of war. "Tug of Fun" sounds absolutely heinous, and I'd rather chew my arm off than play that. And I never minded being "it" in tag, because being "it" rotates between people, not just making it me all the time.

I believe we are doing our kids a SERIOUS disadvantage by sterilizing their environment in school and starting this crap so early. What's next--no failing grades for anyone now? Everyone gets an "E" for trying and passes, even if they never get it (oh, wait--hello, "no child left behind" act...how could I forget about you)? What's going to happen when that child is in a competitive environment as an adult and can't cut it? Is he/she going to run to mommy or a therapist and whine about how unfair life is and how his/her self-esteem is crushed?

Don't get me wrong--in sports, I was never the first one chosen. That sucked and embarrassed me. LOL. But it also taught me I needed to work harder to be better. This whole notion of removing the competitive edge from sports and gym is flat-out WRONG. Because the real world IS competitive. You aren't going to get a job just by applying. In the real world, you don't get a raise just because everyone else gets one. In the real world, you have to do more than show up to work and breathe through your nose every once in a while to hold on to a job.

As you can tell, this is a topic I'm VERY passionate about. But now that I've ranted on and on, I'd love to hear what you think...do you feel the same way I do? Or do you think it's about time they started looking at how gym classes are for kids? Lay it on me!