Many schools across the country have banned the game of dodgeball, and I cannot say I’m unhappy about that. “Dodgeball is an elimination game and it uses individuals as human targets,” said Charlene Burgeson, executive director of the National Association for Sport and Physical Education in Reston, Virginia. “These practices are not appropriate for physical education.”

I remember being said target. As an unathletic, short, and skinny girl, I hated dodgeball (and Red Rover, since we’re on the topic) with unbridled passion. I have long wished that I had a PE teacher like my brother-in-law, who could have inspired me to want to improve my physical fitness. Instead I felt humiliated and hated PE.

The internet is rife with stories about dodgeball injuries…eye injuries, broken fingers, even a chronic subdural hematoma. Facebook even has a group for dodgeball fanatics to post photos of their injuries with pride. Dodgeball is like the rugby of elementary school. Projectiles come hurling at you, and you have no protection whatsoever. Nowadays the good PE teachers who still play dodgeball use soft balls. In my day, we used hard playground balls. I’m not sure what they were using today at the community center.