Kindergarten "actively discourage(s) all role play"

[WJ Walton]

(Cut and pasted from The Escapist Blog - www.theescapist.com/blog)

It's another example of how Satanic Panic is still alive and well in
some places: the principal of a kindergarten in Melbourne, Australia
has not only banned role play among its students, he is encouraging
parents of their students to back them up by doing the same at home.

"A MELBOURNE kinder has banned children from Harry Potter, Pokemon and
Power Rangers paraphernalia for "spiritual reasons" and told parents
not to let their boys and girls play with toys associated with their
fantasy heroes at home.

In a letter to parents, Waverley Christian College principal Peter
Sheahan labelled the kinder a "war-free zone" and banned all items
associated with the popular children's programs as well as toy guns,
swords and weapons.

"For this reason we actively discourage all role play such as Power
Rangers," he wrote to parents.

"For spiritual reasons, all Pokemon and Harry Potter items are not
considered appropriate, including toys, clothing, drink bottles etc.

"Please help us by backing this up at home."

Victorian Parents Council spokeswoman Christine Delamore said the
directive "went too far".

"Schools have a right to have policies that apply in the school yard,
but don't try and tell parents what to do in their own home," she
said."It's interfering, it's over-stepping the mark.

Mr Sheahan did not return phone calls from the Sunday Herald Sun.

Forest Hill Liberal candidate Neil Angus, chairman of the independent
inter-denominational school in Wantirna South, said he did not have a
view on the issue."

Role-play - including "war games" with swords and guns - is an
important part of child development. It helps us build our
personality, cope with our fears and other trials of life, and learn
who we truly are. There are certainly some children who should not
role play unsupervised due to personal mental or emotional issues, but
banning the activity outright will not create or exacerbate these
issues - it will only delay their detection.

On top of that, this ban could encourage the mistaken notion that any
kind of role play is always wrong. The school is certainly within its
rights to ban any activity they choose, but this is lazy,
irresponsible, and superstitious, and the children attending this
school deserve much more.

See the original article here:
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/melbourne-kinder-not-so-wild-about-harry/story-e6frf7kx-1225957440927

[M. Alan Thomas II]

I don't have my files handy right now, but we should have on record a
short article by a clinical psychologist or psychiatrist who points
out that more inpatients owe their troubles to repressing fantasy in
their thoughts and in their lives than having too much of it. That
being said, my reading of the article is that the ban is on violence
(including fantasy and play violence) than all role-play. Still not
good for us, but with more nuance.

--Alan