7 ms·

How Dodgeball Became America's Most Demonized Sport

12 points by hackhackin 12y ago

dm2 12y ago
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.
- hga 12y ago
  For those of us who wear glasses, dodge ball presented some significant additional dangers.
  - vishaldpatel 12y ago
    Eh.. it's not too bad. A scratch here and there, and the odd glasses flying off. It's way more fun than it is dangerous :)
    - hga 12y ago
      Yeah, well, I avoided an event of this general nature until quite recently, a decade or so ago. I was very glad Dermabond was in common use to suture up the gash above my eye, I hate to think what the alternatives were back in the '70s. No, dodgeball is no fun at all when the stakes are higher and you aren't yet well coordinated (this was high school; for some reason, I didn't get coordinated until my college years, perhaps when I stopped growing...). There's also the minor detail of it being involuntary. I should have told the coaches to f--- off and that I'd get a GED when the time came to graduate....
- Igglyboo 12y ago
  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.
  - s_q_b 12y ago
    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.
    - DanBC 12y ago
      Children being bullies feels like something to do with teaching and supervision, and not with the activity.
morkfromork 12y ago
Kids need to learn basic survival skills somewhere. Dodgeball is a pretty tame way to do it.
thehooplehead 12y ago
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.
mynewwork 12y ago
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.
- JoeAltmaier 12y ago
  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.
jbpadgett 12y ago
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.

12 points by hackhackin 12y ago

dm2 12y ago

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.

hga 12y ago
For those of us who wear glasses, dodge ball presented some significant additional dangers.
- vishaldpatel 12y ago
  Eh.. it's not too bad. A scratch here and there, and the odd glasses flying off. It's way more fun than it is dangerous :)
  - hga 12y ago
    Yeah, well, I avoided an event of this general nature until quite recently, a decade or so ago. I was very glad Dermabond was in common use to suture up the gash above my eye, I hate to think what the alternatives were back in the '70s. No, dodgeball is no fun at all when the stakes are higher and you aren't yet well coordinated (this was high school; for some reason, I didn't get coordinated until my college years, perhaps when I stopped growing...). There's also the minor detail of it being involuntary. I should have told the coaches to f--- off and that I'd get a GED when the time came to graduate....
Igglyboo 12y ago
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.
- s_q_b 12y ago
  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.
  - DanBC 12y ago
    Children being bullies feels like something to do with teaching and supervision, and not with the activity.

morkfromork 12y ago

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

thehooplehead 12y ago

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.

mynewwork 12y ago

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.

JoeAltmaier 12y ago
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.

jbpadgett 12y ago

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.