Friendly competition was the norm at Iola Recreation Department’s spring break Sports Day in the Community Recreation Building at Riverside Park. Seventeen kids came to play dodgeball and paddle baseball.
The rivalry was more intense during snack time, when one half of a table, dominated by McKinley Elementary School students, debated Lincoln and Jefferson students over whose principal was funnier and whose teachers were better. No ultimate winner was chosen as conversation moved on to Internet safety, especially when using social networking sites.
Although most of the kids were in second and third grade, a handful maintain their own Web sites, they said, supervised by their parents. Others said they are banned from the pages until they reach 16, while a few more can look over the shoulders of older siblings, but not interact themselves. All seemed to grasp the whys of not giving out personal information online.
“A person can pretend to be someone else, even if they send you a picture,” observed Jefferson third-grader Gentry Dougherty.
All agreed they were happier to be at the gym playing games than at home online.
“I signed up to get away from my mom for at least a couple of hours,” McKinley second-grader Allie Utley said. Her third-grade schoolmate Katie Weide said for her, it would be her brother.
Mason Swanson said he was very pleased to be playing sports instead of being at home, where “my mom is peeling the walls in preparation for painting.” If home, he’d probably have to help pull off old wallpaper, too, he said. His mom will use today’s movie day at the park as another opportunity to continue the remodel, he added.
Kids get kick out of sports
