If you leave boys to their druthers, they're playing free-wheeling, unstructured games of King of the Hill, or dog-pile-on, or wrestling, or they chase each other playing a game of Keep-Away tackling the kid who's got the ball or whatever. They play rough naturally with lots of contact, pushing, shoving, tackling, pinning, bumping, etc.
I think directing those natural energies toward a structured and controlled game with rules is an excellent opportunity to teach them about the life they'll face in the future. Parents who try to soften and protect are doing their kids a disservice, IMVHO. |
