Old-fashioned fun, Charles Sykes observes, “is falling victim to a potent stew of psychobabble, litigation and over-wrought over protectiveness.”
Among other examples he cites new “prank” regulations on campuses that invoke 9/11. Such pranks, he says, “have as much to do with terrorism as a greased pig in the hallway has to do with the invasion of Poland.”
In wartime, Sykes posits wryly, best we go up “against an enemy who also values non-competitive, risk-free, self-esteem-building play activities for its young.” (The Wall Street Journal)