Dodgeball too dangerous???

A New York State appellate court recently refused to dismiss a case stemming from a 7-year old’s injury while playing dodgeball in school. Groups are chiming in claiming that dodgeball is too dangerous for kids to be playing.

Dodgeball has been banned from schools in Texas, Maine, Massachusetts, Utah, Maryland, and New York under the claim that the game is unfair and exclusionary. Most of these states have also banned variations of dodgeball. According to the National Association for Sport and Physical Education, “dodgeball is not an appropriate activity for K-12 school physical education programs,” and it provides “little opportunities for everyone in the class, especially the slower, less agile students who need the activity the most.”

The case in New York started in 2001 when a 7-year old girl was playing a modified version of dodgeball in her PE class. The girl became entangled with another child and fell on to a hardwood floor, resulting in surgery and the posibility that her injured arm will not grow correctly due to a growth plate injury.

According to the school district’s attorney, “this seems to be a new area. It kind of makes you think, ‘What’s next?’”