New playground rules at a Pittsford Elementary School have touched off a lot of criticism.
Parents at Jefferson Road Elementary School got an email from the Parent Teacher Student Association Thursday morning:
We are excited to introduce a new program of parent participation this year on our playground.We need your child's input! We know that many children have favorite tag, chase and hide and seek games they like to play on the playground. At the moment we only have two (Freeze Tag and Stuck in the Mud). If there is a game your child would like to add, help them fill out the card below so we can add it to our list. This way, all students know the rules of the game and know how to join in once it has started being played.The challenge -- if your child does not add their game to the list, the game may not be allowed on the playground. Our goal is not to restrict what games can be played. Instead, we are resolving the conflicts of the past by making game rules clear to everyone. By having the rules and joining guidelines available to playground monitors, they can help children play together without having to stop the games from going on.
The Pittsford Central School District says the rules are being interpreted in the wrong way:
The goal of submitting game ideas is to give our students a voice and platform to share their creativity and provide a common understanding of the rules for new games. It allows us to take a great idea and share it with all of our students. If students decide that they want to create a different game, it is not only fine, it is encouraged.