Dodgeball
Why losing it was a crime to our generation.
Dodgeball.
January 15, 2020
I’m sure you can look back at a time when you were in gym class and suddenly realized how long it’d been since you’d played a particular game or sport. Maybe it was because you just didn’t have a gym class anymore. Maybe when you did, the class just never played it. Or maybe the game was all-out banned never to be played again. Take the fabled game of dodgeball…Remember how much fun it was? But why is it that the only memories of dodgeball seem to reach all the way back to elementary school?
Well, the simple answer to this is that the game was tragically softcore banned in West Virginia back in the early 2010s. What I mean by this is that there is no law specifically stating that we cannot play the game, but it is a generally understood consensus that it is not allowed in schools anymore. In my opinion, losing dodgeball and many of the other fun and engaging games we played in the past is one of the worst things that ever happened in our school career. Obviously, losing the ability to play the game doesn’t have the most upfront and apparent repercussions but it does carry weight. I feel that the loss of competitive and engaging games like dodgeball has led to the downfall of ambitious natures in young adults everywhere.
We were one of the last generations to even have a remote taste of the joy that is felt when winning a hard game of dodgeball or any sport of that nature. Now, you might say, “So what? It’s not like playing a dumb game in the gym is really going to have an effect,” but I disagree. Without competition there is no progress. Humanity’s greatest innovations have been made in response to the need to win, or to achieve a goal the fastest. Space race, anyone? Never giving new generations the experience of dodgeball will inevitably lead to a decline in American technological and civil advancements.
Dylan Christopher Gunter • Feb 18, 2020 at 8:02 am
I agree. Dodgeball was so much fun during gym in elementary and my early middle school days, and the fact that we won’t be able to feel that same sensation of when a ball flies past you because you were so skilled, or just lucky enough, to dodge the ball and then having that same feeling when you get someone out, it was absolutely amazing. I say we should allow dodgeball in our schools again, just with softer foam balls.
Reverend Plaugher • Feb 12, 2020 at 7:11 am
I agree with you completely, the practice of playing dodgeball in schools has single handedly caused the advancement of space technology.
Barry Rich • Jan 23, 2020 at 12:23 pm
As a Boomer, I grew up dodge-balling. The activity clearly led to nuclear escalation. Or wait…maybe it was de-escalation.
Allison D Feamster • Jan 16, 2020 at 8:33 am
I think the biggest reason for dodgeball’s swan song is potential injury. I mean especially for smaller kids in elementary, and middle school. You also must factor in that some of the more immature kids may throw harder; others may throw hard unintentionally.
I just found why dodgeball left: “dodgeball is not an appropriate activity for the K-12 school setting because it does not support a positive school climate, the application of appropriate social behaviors or the goal of physical education.” (This is according to Shape America).
I feel this is a bit vague. I still believe its injury purposes.