High school bans British Bulldogs

Published on Thursday 26 November 2009 08:37

PUPILS have been banned from playing the traditional playground game British Bulldogs on "health and safety grounds".

The youngsters at Firrhill High have been instructed not to play it, along with other physical games such as wrestling, on the school grounds. A senior teacher at the school has warned that such games incur "significant risk" of injury to pupils.

&#149 Should schools ban British Bulldogs and other rough games from the playground? Vote here.

British Bulldogs, which has been played by generations of school pupils, has been the subject of a ban by schools across Britain over fears it is too dangerous.

The game, where children try to stop one another from running across a playing field, has undergone something of a revival recently, after calls for it to be encouraged in a bid to get children active at lunchtimes.

However, children at Firrhill High are under clear instructions not to take part in the game during school hours. It is understood that the ruling came after several pupils sustained minor injuries while playing, and school bosses want to curb it before someone is seriously injured.

On the school's website, in a daily bulletin message to all pupils, acting senior depute Nick McClellan said: "Please note that taking part in physical games such as wrestling or British Bulldogs is not allowed in the school grounds at breaks and lunchtimes.

"On health and safety grounds there is a significant risk of injury to pupils and these types of games are therefore unacceptable in school."

Last year, the Local Government Association (LGA), which represents councils in England and Wales, called for the game to be reintroduced. It said schools should balance worries about the game being too violent with the need to keep youngsters physically active.

Councillor Jeremy Balfour, the education spokesman for the Tories, said: "If schools can't provide the necessary supervision, it's probably a game that is not appropriate for kids at break times."

Councillor Alison Johnstone, the Greens' education spokes-woman, said: "This is a game that I played when I was at school and the fact that it's still going strong shows it does have a real appeal.

"Clearly we have to take health and safety considerations into account but we have to be a lot more imaginative and can't simply ban anything that has a bit of risk attached to it, as that's part of growing up."

A city council spokesman said: "We don't have a central policy on activity in playgrounds.

"The school doesn't want to see children wrestling or running into each other and getting hurt. They are simply trying to ensure things don't get out of hand."