According to a report published in Linn’s Stamp News, the United States Postal Service may wind up trashing its entire run of new forever stamps based on Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” initiative. It is unclear whether or not the stamps have been destroyed yet or not.
Why?
It seems the stamps show children doing unsafe activities like children jumping cannonball-style into water, a skateboarding without kneepads and doing a headstand without a helmet.
Whew! Our nation dodged a bullet with this. They caught this in the nick of time. The next thing you know, kids will want to go outside and play kick the can, hide and seek or tether ball. Heaven forbid they jump rope without a safety net.
There are other stamps in this series that showed kids walking, playing baseball, swinging, playing soccer, shooting hoops, dribbling and juggling. Apparently, these did not offend anyone’s over-protective sensibilities.
Now, the First Lady’s “Let’s Move” is a worthwhile initiative. It works to educate the public on childhood obesity and to encourage Americans to “raise a healthier generation of Kids” through activity, exercise  and good eating habits.
A quick glance of the mission statement shows “Let’s Move” understands the importance of eating good, healthy food and the negative effect sugar-laden junk food is doing to the youth of America.
A lot of folks reading this will have grown up in an era when recess included dangerous X-Game-like events  such as dodgeball. Many more played on steel monkey bars bolted onto concrete pads poured on patches of sand burr-infested sand.
This news comes on the heels of another report recently of a school banning tag.
Seriously?
We all want our children to be safe. But those who slid face first down rusty slippery slides back in the day had loving parents who felt the same way.
Part of growing up is learning lessons like not letting go of those gymnastic rings while in mid air and not leaning too far back while swinging. A few encounters with the unforgiving steel pipes or the dirt come with the territory.
Being healthy is eating properly and being careful. But, we also have to let kids be kids so they can discover this big world on their own terms – bumps, bruises, abrasions and all.
Dale Hogg