all I can say is AMEN

*throws large ball at you*

*Meeps and catches it* Haha, you're out!

DAMMIT

The main point of the article had merit but all the "Leftist" this and "Liberal" that with a nice sprinkling of "damn women" kind of covered his message with the kind of thick-brained macho stuff people are having a problem with...
My message to the author: LET BOYS BE BOYS- but don't blame everyone around you, from behind a keyboard.. Fingerpointing from your chair is easy compared to doing something about it.

In other news... Yeah these bans are completely stupid! I haven't heard of them doing any of this down here (I live in GA and FL) I hope it doesn't spread. I'll be damned if some mis-intentioned person is gonna take away my kid's childhood fun.

The thing is groups that's he's pointing out are exactly the cause of it. He's pinning the problem on liberalist's views, not on the party itself. Women are also a key issue of this problem. Take the overprotective mother for instance, she shields her boy from violence because she doesn't want him hurt. He's a boy, that's what they do. Shielding him will only make him weaker in society. Most parents know this and will actually cripple their chances in society so they have to come back home to mommy. That's just one example of many though.

Yeah, but the problem with that is that its not all liberals or women who view things that way. _IM_ liberal as is my girlfriend (the woman part) and we both think this is bullshit...

Pin it on more specific people, instead of a group or groups who varry WIDELY in opinions and views.... Thats all I'm sayin.

Well you're talking politics which involves grouping people based on a broad theme. In this sense I believe the author of the article is correct on blaming who he does, he isn't saying ALL liberals, moms, and uptight society in general is at blame, just a large majority. You and your girlfriend would count as a minority in the over all statistics. I hope this clears things up a bit.

Sort of... Its actually the other way around, though. Unfortunately, its always the dumbasses who yell the loudest. Which is why people look at liberals badly- same thing for republicans I'd imagine. The jackasses make the rest look bad..

Well, you have a point, but I don't think protective parents are necessarily a bad thing, IMO. I had overly protective parents, especially my mother, and I turned out just find. And of course she shielded us from violence. I would have rather she cared too much, than be like the majority of parents of kids I see, and care too little.

If it weren't for my mom's overprotectiveness and caring, she wouldn't have taken us out of that godawful public school system and homeschooled us, she wouldn't have invested so much time or money is sending us to community college, and making sure we had a good education. And I doubt I'd be nearly the nice person I was today.

I admit, I might be a bit ignorant, or naive, thanks to her tendencies. But given the kids that I use to know, and what their parents didn't do, I'm glad my mom is the way she is today. I wouldn't see myself as crippled or other weaker. I might not have the stomach for violence most guys have, but honestly, an insensitivity to violence, a numbling of the senses, is never a good thing.

Interestingly I see it as quite the opposite. Home school was so damn boring, i would be done with the lessons for the week and nobody to play with until the weekend. Public school was much more fun, social, and where I met my best friends. So in that regard I think your mom did you no help what so ever. However, I'm not saying all over protective parents are bad, just the ones that want to ruin everyone else's lives based on something that happened to their kid.

Now as for the violence thing, yes I have been numbed to it, I can watch movies like saw no problem, but when it comes to seeing something like that in reality I damn near puke. Kids these days need to understand the differences between play and work, reality and fiction. You just are not going to get that point across unless they are exposed to it. I could tail this whole thing off as to say this is why more boys are becoming gay, but that's a road that even I dare not go down, being Bi myself.

Indeed, we had vastly different experiences. The public school system, for me and my brother, was hell on earth. Also, and I do not mean to boast, but me and brother were far too smart for that system. So, unlike a great many people, me and brother did not have the fun, social experience, which is why I am glad for homeschooling. It allowed me to go to a community college, where I could challenge myself, and work on things that would make the high school kids scratch their heads in stupidly.

I know that I sound overly critical of the school system, but everyone has different experiences. I did learn, however, that Junior High kids are among some of the most vicious and malicious people I have ever met, at least for me. I would rather have stuck with my homeschooling, even if I didn't meet people, then ever repeat being exposed to those monsters again.

Violence, well, that's a whole 'nother can of worms. As for reality and fiction, you're right, there is a huge difference. You can lay blame on the parents, but then, at the same time, I must sympathize. I mean, think about it from the mother's point of view. Their children, their babies, are being bombarded with images and messages about the 'coolness' and visual appeal of violence.

While I admit, a ban on dodgeball could be a bit extreme, you have to admit, that sport has the potential for much abuse. I remember dodgeball as an experiment in being targeted by the bullies, and having to avoid being smashed in the face (something the teachers tries to ban), or having the ball thrown WAY too hard. Again, it's a matter of personal experience. But reading the article, I find that I would agree with the parents. There are plenty of other games, besides dodgeball, that kids can play, that don't involve trying to peg people in vital areas with an object thrown at high speeds :P

Ah, well in my high school we had bullies that would do that, if you threw the ball at someone's head or too hard to injure them you were out of the game.

As far as your experience goes, I didn't have an easy time in Junior high or high school. Shit, I hated junior high. HS was fun though, it's hard to truly appreciate what you have until you experience the worst that it can offer. As far as you go, you come off sounding a bit arrogant. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, just tone it down. Back to the issue at hand though. Parents and school are banning not only dodgeball but also games like Cops and Robbers, Tag, and tag-team jump rope because they say it is 'dangerous' or morally corrupt. That's what has me steamed.