Hall of Shame: Dodgeball

Dodge ball is a highly controversial game that is played in many physical education classes. Some would argue that it creates too much down time, some say that it promotes bullying, but others have no problem with it at all. There are many things you could do to make the game of dodge ball more friendly to all.

I personally feel that the only problem with dodge ball is the amount of downtime that is created when a player is eliminated. To increase physical activity and decrease down time I think some changes and variations can be made to the game. Once a player is knocked out give them multiple options they could do to get back into the game: 20 push-ups, make 10 lay-ups, run two laps around the gym or any other thing you think of. This would first decrease the down time as the students will always be doing some activity and it develops many other skills when they try to get back into the game. Also the game would never end so this reduces the self-esteem loss because no one would technically lose and targeting the weaker people would not be as beneficial anymore and I think more people would actually go for the stronger players since they could quickly get back into the game. I don't think any games should be put into the hall of shame, but put into an under construction category until they are more suitable for physical education class.