There should be mounds of snow everywhere, in all schoolyards, so that children can play “king of the mountain”, according to Bernard Drainville.
The Minister of Education reacted Saturday morning to the report by The Pressaccording to which Quebec schools are imposing more and more safety rules on students.
For example, schools prohibit carrying someone on your back, pushing an empty swing, playing “king of the mountain”, chasing insects or taking momentum to slide in a sled.
“We need to better manage our risk,” Mr. Drainville responded in a press scrum at the Coalition Avenir Québec conference in Saint-Hyacinthe. We need to find a certain balance. Children must be allowed to expend their energy. »
“Well yes, there is a risk that a child could possibly get a little injury. It happened to me. At one point, I fell on the ice. I’m not dead! »
He brandished in front of journalists a memo from the Ministry of Education dated August 21 which asks the network to create and then maintain snow mounds in schoolyards.
The Canadian Pediatric Society recommends encouraging risky play in children to improve their physical health and to teach them to better manage their anxiety.
“Obviously, it must be done in a safe manner, it is necessary to provide corridors, […]but I’ve been telling myself for a while now that we need to bring back the snow mounds. […] I played king of the mountain,” he added.
The King of the Mountain consists of struggling to remain, alone, at the top of a mound of snow.
According to Bernard Drainville, it is particularly important that little boys can use up their energy during playtime. “I wish there were snow mounds everywhere,” he said.
For the future, the minister promises “more formal supervision” of activities in schoolyards. The memo, “it was an encouragement,” he said, “but I would like it to be more than an incentive.”