

How Dodgeball Became America's Most Demonized Sport - hackhackin
http://priceonomics.com/how-dodgeball-became-americas-most-demonized-sport/

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dm2
Dodgeball is very fun.

I'm not a fan of the hard rubber balls or volleyballs that are used sometimes,
foam balls won't give you a bloody nose if you are hit in the face with one.

Would it be an issue to separate children and let parents choose which sports
they play in gym class? I remember we had to play with scarves in elementary
school because dodgeball was too "dangerous". SCARVES. THROWING SCARVES UP IN
THE AIR, WTF.

If fun activities are taken out of gym class then kids will not want to be
active, and that's much more dangerous than the occasional bloody nose or
busted lip.

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Igglyboo
While i'd agree that it's not fun to get hit in the face with a hard rubber
ball, all the foam balls I've ever used have a considerable amount of drag and
are impossible to throw well.

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s_q_b
Agreed, I'd like to see a kickstarter for a proper dodgeball (proper ballistic
profile without risk of injury.)

Dodgeball is a tremendously fun game. The danger is that some children use it
as an excuse to gang up on a child on the opposite side. Classic rubber dodge
balls essentially allow students to deliver a pretty severe beating to that
child, in a school sanctioned fashion.

This is why most adult dodgeball leagues used weighted heavily padded balls in
lieu of the standard rubber playground ball. They suck to throw, but they
won't hurt anyone.

We need a dodgeball that strikes a happy medium, in order to restore what I
think is one of the most fun activities as kids. When we voted what to play in
elementary gym class, dodge ball won overwhelming every time.

A safe properly throwable ball would do wonders for dodgeball.

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DanBC
Children being bullies feels like something to do with teaching and
supervision, and not with the activity.

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mynewwork
Missing from the conversation seems to be the complete removal of all outlets
for energy, anger, aggression or frustration for children today.

Maybe if the kid dealing with his parents divorce got to play dodgeball in
second period he'd be able to calmly sit and pay attention in third and
fourth.

Maybe if the victim could punch his bully once without fear of zero-tolerance
policies suspending/expelling him, the problem wouldn't continue to build
until they snap and do something drastic or more often, just develop lasting
social/emotional issues.

Dodgeball was a fun part of grade school. We had a rule that you couldn't
throw the ball at someone's head. I never saw an injury and the best players
on the opposite team were more likely to be targeted than the weakest.

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JoeAltmaier
I was a timid child, and feared dodgeball. I think I could have overcome it if
we'd just had a throwing drill, paired up and threw until we were comfortable
with the process. Then I'd have enjoyed it.

The fact that some young people stress out over dodgeball doesn't mean its
evil; it means they need to work through that fear. Much more valuable than
just avoiding it.

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jbpadgett
This is perhaps indicative of the "wusification" of kids in America today.
Virtually anything that could cause any (even the most minuscule) harm
mentally or physically is now quickly out of favor. If kids cannot learn to
deal with inequity, pain, rejection, competition, etc, they will be at a
disadvantage living and competing in the larger world which is full of all
these things. Also, perhaps they might develop entitlement mentalities whereby
anything that is not smooth, perfect, and fair gets "reported" by them to
central "authorities" for policy review and remediation. The underlying
expectation is that they don't have to deal with anything they don't agree
with or find unpleasant.

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thehooplehead
For anyone interested in playing dodgeball as an adult, check out the World
Dodgeball Society
([http://dodgeball4ever.com/leagues/](http://dodgeball4ever.com/leagues/))

They're not aggro-competitive and most of their leagues use very throwable,
virtually pain-free foam balls.

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morkfromork
Kids need to learn basic survival skills somewhere. Dodgeball is a pretty tame
way to do it.

