Old games gone but good

Education authorities and parents need to know that team work and good health, which many old games used to promote, are more important for young people than many rigid exam-oriented homework and learning. It is good to know that some schools have made students aware of the old games. But, at the same time, the education authorities should take more measures to ensure that young people get to enjoy more free time and make old games popular, rather than only pampering adults' nostalgia, says an article on pinglun.youth.cn. Excerpts:

Many games that Chinese children played before the introduction of reform and opening-up - like rolling a hoop and skipping over a chain of rubber bands - were demonstrated at the recent middle-school sports meeting in Nanjing, Jiangsu province. Many students born after mid-1990s took part in and liked these simple games, which do not need Internet connection and computers to play.

The question is: Do schools want to revive the old games or did they just make them part of the show at the opening ceremony of the sports meeting? Some schools in Nanjing did introduce the old games in their physical education classes. But the simple games faced embarrassment, for few teachers knew the exact rules or how to play them.

It is also difficult for schools to find large open spaces to let students play such games. And since most of the students' time is dedicated to the heavy load of school work and many of the old games demand teamwork, it is not easy to find and organize enough young people to play them. Moreover, today's children are used to playing computer games all by themselves and conversing with their friends online, so it is difficult to inspire them to leave the confines of their homes and venture out to play the old games.