Classic kids games like kickball deemed unsafe by state in effort to increase summer camp regulation

BY Glenn Blain
DAILY NEWS ALBANY BUREAU

ALBANY - State bureaucrats have identified a potentially deadly hazard facing our children this summer - freeze tag.
That's right, officials have decided the age-old street game - along with Wiffle Ball, kickball and dodgeball - poses a "significant risk of injury."
And classics like Capture the Flag, Steal the Bacon and Red Rover are also deemed dangerous in new state regulations for day camps.
"It looks like Albany bureaucrats are looking for kids to just sit in a corner in a house all day and not be outside," said state Sen. Patty Ritchie (R-St. Lawrence County).
"I don't think Wiffle Ball is a dangerous sport."
The Health Department created a list of supposedly risky recreational activities - which also includes more perilous pursuits like archery, scuba and horseback riding - in response to a state law passed in 2009.
The law sought to close a loophole that legislators said allowed too many indoor camp programs to operate without oversight.
Under the new rules, any program that offers two or more organized recreational activities - with at least one of them on the risky list - is deemed a summer camp and subject to state regulation.
Ritchie said the regulations could cripple small recreational programs, forcing them to pay a $200 fee to register as a summer camp and provide medical staff.
And many parents felt like state officials were being, well, wimpy.
Kimberly Baxter, 27, a medical assistant from South Ozone Park, Queens, said she played freeze tag with abandon as a youngster.
"I never got hurt, maybe scraped my knee once in a while but that was it," said Baxter, mom to a 1-year-old girl.
Deborah Graham, 51, a mother of two from Harlem, said moving around was less harmful than playing video games all summer.
"You could develop Carpal Tunnel Syndrome," she said. "And when (kids) eat, eat, and eat, they get diabetes. That's dangerous."
The state Camp Directors Association backed the 2009 law, and Health Department spokeswoman Diane Mathis said the list of risky activities was crafted with help from camp groups.
She said the list - which labeled Frisbee, tug of war and sack races as safe - was offered only as "guidance" to local governments and organization.
She stressed that not every program will need to hire medical staff. Some simply need to have a plan in place to deal with medical emergencies.
"There will be flexibility in how the law is implemented," Mathis said.
Susan Craig, a spokeswoman for the city Health Department, said the new law is not expected to have much impact since most city programs already meet the state requirements.
While many New Yorkers scoffed at the idea of tag leading to traumatic brain or spinal injury, Bronx resident Kim Wainwright said it's better to be safe than sorry.
"Kids these days are kinda brutal so I can see those games being dangerous," said Wainwright, who has a 5-year-old. "I agree with it."
With Mark Morales and Tanyanika Samuels
gblain@nydailynews.com

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Are these games actually that unsafe for kids? I remember when I played these games. Yeah, I might have gotten scraped or bruised but that is part of being a kid. I would much rather have my kids outside playing games versus being inside and playing videos games. What do you think?