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Keller @ Large: Nanny State Overkill

BOSTON (CBS) - I'm glad to see that saner heads have prevailed in New York State, where state health officials have buckled under the weight of public outrage over new regulations classifying some classic kids' games as risky.

Listen to Jon's commentary:

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It seems the bureaucrats weren't happy with state laws that allowed indoor summer camps to escape the level of regulation - and attendant licensing fees - applied to outdoor camps. So they decided to play pretend, ruling that a slew of games routinely engaged in at these indoor camps were suddenly as risky as outdoor camp staples like archery and scuba diving.

What kind of games?

Try dodgeball, red rover, kickball, flag football, capture the flag and, believe it or not, tag.

Tag!

And oh, yes -- wiffle ball.

Now, it was one thing when they went after chocolate milk, and Fluff.

And it's bad enough when they feel they need to call the cops when one kid brandishes a sharpened pencil at another.

But really - wiffle ball and tag?

We're lectured constantly by the nanny state about the very real problem of childhood obesity, and yes, kids can get hurt playing dodgeball.

But if you start classifying the ordinary, harmless games of childhood as "risky," and adding to the cost of opportunities for kids to play them by burying camps in red tape and licensing fees, isn't that going to make the obesity problem worse?

One father I spoke with about this story last night put it well: "Parent participation is the key to everything from school to extra-curricular activities. [They need] to be involved and to be responsible and to not push that responsibility to the government."

Or, I would add, onto the courts.

If we teach our kids how to play safe, and supervise their play as best we can, maybe we'll reduce the risk of future mind-blowing ventures by bureaucrats into the abyss of nanny state overkill.

You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. and 12:25 p.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.

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