Students at Earl Beatty Public School in Toronto aren’t allowed to play with balls in their school playground any more.
The school has banned balls – including soccer balls, footballs, baseballs and tennis balls – from its playground.
Kids can only play with soft, foam balls such as Nerf balls.
The ban was put in place after a parent was hit in the head with a soccer ball and suffered a concussion.
The school’s principal, Alicia Fernandez, said kids were often getting hurt by balls in the playground. She said they were sometimes scared. She also pointed out that the school has a very small outdoor play area.
Some parents say the ban is an overreaction. One parent told CBC news that he was “disgusted” by the ban because it goes too far.
Some parents said that there are many things that can cause an injury, and it’s not possible to protect kids from absolutely everything that could hurt them.
A spokesperson for the Toronto District School Board said the school will have a discussion with parents, and perhaps another solution will be found.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
By Kathleen Tilly
Writing/Discussion Prompt
There are different sides to this story. Pick one side and write down arguments to support your view. Then pair together with a friend or classmate who is arguing the other side and have a discussion.
Did your view change after you heard another side of the story? Why or why not?
Reading Prompt: Responding to and Evaluating Texts
One solution to the problem is banning all hard balls on the playground. Many people believe that this is not the answer. Can you think of any other solutions? Remember to consider the points of view of the principal, the students and the parents.
Primary
Express personal thoughts and feelings about what has been read (OME, Reading: 1.8).
Junior
Make judgements and draw conclusions about the ideas and information in texts and cite stated or implied evidence from the text to support their view (OME, Reading: 1.8).
Intermediate
Evaluate the effectiveness of both simple and complex texts based on evidence from the texts (OME, Reading: 1.8).
Grammar Feature: Plural nouns
To make most words plural, we simply add an ‘s’ onto the end of the words. Find examples in the article of words that become plural when an ‘s’ is added.
Can you think of any plural words that don’t follow this rule?
