7 playground games that were banned for being dangerous - did you take part in any?

In 2011, a survey by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers found that over one in four school staff said British bulldog had been banned where they worked. I can still remember the adrenaline and nervousness while lining up for another run.

According to one teacher, bulldog was banned "because of the number of broken bones it generates". Today's kids will never understand the rush of making it across the playground without being tackled...

The same survey by the ATL found that conkers is another casualty of increasingly tough crackdowns on playground pastimes, with 14% of staff reporting the game was banned at their school.

While the game of hitting one conker against another might not sound like nail-biting fun to today's students, this simple game was a hit and only required a piece of string and a nearby horse-chestnut tree.

In 2019, leapfrog became the target of school crackdowns on more violent games at Rudyard Kipling Primary School in Brighton as they imposed a 'Gentle Hands' ban. I'm sure I've still got a scar on my right knee from an ill-timed jump.

The simple game, which involves vaulting over your crouched friend and then being vaulted over yourself, might not sound too risky, but ATL's survey found nearly one in ten schools had banned the game.

Kiss chase, as the name suggests, involves running around after your classmates and attempting to plant a peck. When you pass over a smooch, they become 'it'.

Understandably, this game has dropped in popularity due to health concerns, with the BBC reporting in 1999 that a school had banned the game due to a meningitis risk and another report including kiss chase in a wider ban on rougher games.

While dodgeball remains a popular pastime in the UK, several US school districts in states like Texas and Maine have banned the game. I remember our school gymnasium wasn't the biggest so there was a good chance of getting a hit – and an even better chance of being injured.

Alabama removed dodgeball – in which students aim balls at their peers and dodge the returning throws – from their gym curriculum in 2018, labelling it "inappropriate" for Physical Education classes. 

It's hard to think of another game as leisurely and low-adrenaline as marbles, but this old-fashioned playground game hasn't escaped increasing restrictions. 

According to ATL's survey, almost one in ten school staff said marbles was banned at their school. Whether it's due to concerns over choking, splintered glass or simply a tantrum at having your favourite marble stolen, the days of a perfect shot across the pavement are gone...

Whether you called it tig, tag or it, the cry of 'You're it!' had kids running at full speed across the playground, trying to outpace their classmates. If (like me) you weren't the fastest in your class, tag often felt more like a never-ending run around the playground as you were inevitably stuck on 'it'. 

In 2016, Christ the King School in Leeds made headlines for imposing a temporary ban on the game after "clothes were torn" and children were left "upset".