Boy, we're jumping all over this one, aren't we? What's the story here? Was no-musical-chairs MANDATED, or recommended? Who recommended it? How seriously is the recommendation being taken?

And did the same people who recommended musical chairs really also recommend ice hockey for five-year olds?

And how did that old debbil self-esteem rear its ugly head here? I don't seem to see anything about self-esteem in the original article. Is there a little knee-jerk conservatism happening here? Anything we did when we were kids is good, because we were the last good generation, whereas today's kids are going to the dogs. And anything that's suggested as a modification of the dynamics of the schoolyard sytem equals smarmy liberals drooling over kids' self-esteem equals a lowering of standards.

OK, here's a theory. It's got some holes in it, but it's not the worst theory in the world. The downside of musical chairs is that it encourages aggression and may lead to injury, law suits etc. What's the upside? Why are we going to the mattresses for musical chairs?

And...one more question...which are the schools that sanction spin-the-bottle as a school game? Why didn't I go to one of those?