Proving stupidity is alive and well in risk assessment the Belgian Gardens State School in Townsville (North Queensland) has banned all gymnastics activities during breaks, claiming it is protecting students from injury. Parents say students have been threatened with suspension if they are caught doing unsupervised playground acrobatics.
I wonder if they have already removed all of their playground equipment as this would surely lead to injuries?
Perhaps Glenn Dickson, the Belgian Gardens State School principal, should watch Gever Tulley’s 5 dangerous things you should let your kids do and have a good hard look at himself.
“It was just one principal’s decision and there’s no state-wide directive that cartwheels are banned in all Queensland schools or anything like that.”
– Rod Welford, QLD Education Minister
How about a state-wide directive for intelligent risk management processes?
[1] What a flippin’ joke – Townsville school becomes cartwheel cops (2008-Aug-26) [Townsville Bulletin]
[2] Minister calls for backflip in Townsville cartwheel saga (2008-Aug-27) [Townsville Bulletin]
[3] Remember ‘go outside and play?’ (2008-May-15) [Los Angeles Times]
