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[UPDATE] Albany Thinks Wiffle Ball, Freeze Tag Are <strike>Dangerous</strike> Totally Safe!
By
Jaya Saxena
Published Apr 19, 2011
Modified Apr 19, 2011
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By
Jaya Saxena
Published Apr 19, 2011
Modified Apr 19, 2011
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[UPDATE BELOW]
Kids, get out there and play! But don't play too hard, because games like freeze tag, red rover and Wiffle ball pose a "significant risk of injury," according to the state Health Department. In 2009, the Health Department created a list of summer camp "risky activities" that would now be subject to state regulation. Which was fine at first, until kids weren't allowed to go swimming. Will Brooklyn's kickball leagues be next?
The law was created to regulate many indoor camps, which couldn't offer dangerous activities like horseback riding or archery, but frequently offered games like kickball. Many parents and camps figured the regulation was a good thing, but soon it became too much. Assemblywoman Addie Russell tells the Albany Times-Union she has drafted a bill that would exempt "drop-in" programs—such as one that buses kids to a swimming pool at Keewaydin State Park—from regulation. Under the law these "drop-in" programs are classified as day camps, and are subject to permit fees that many can't afford, and are redundant considering the State Park's pool is already regulated.
Other pols consider the idea that Wiffle ball is dangerous just plain stupid. Senator Patty Ritchie said, "It looks like Albany bureaucrats are looking for kids to just sit in a corner in a house all day and not be outside." But the parents who spoke to the Daily News are split. One mom said "Kids these days are kinda brutal so I can see those games being dangerous." However, another said she'd rather a scraped knee than her kids playing video games all summer: "You could develop Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. And when (kids) eat, eat, and eat, they get diabetes. That's dangerous."
[UPDATE] Ahh, the power of bad press. According to the Daily News, the state Health Department has eliminated their list of "risky activities," and hopes draft one in a more "reasonable fashion" by mid-May. Spokeswoman Claudia Hutton said, “We have eliminated it. Pulverized it. The guidance was prepared under the previous administration and the new administration really did not have a chance to review it at all." When in doubt, blame Paterson.
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day camp
health department
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Summer Camp
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Jaya Saxena
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