Kendra Luketic Adv. English 4 11/18/2011

TAG! You’re IT!!! We all know the popular playground game “TAG”. This game is played mostly by young children with no scores, equipment or teams. A group of players choose who is going to be “it” then the player selected to be “it” then chases the other players, attempting to tag them while they try to run away. A tag makes the tagged player “it”. But what if this simple child’s game was sending mixed messages? What exactly do we mean by “Tag! Your it!”? What or who is this so called “it” that everyone wants to tag? The word “It” could have a million different meanings. Some people use the pronoun “it” to refer to people with deformities or diseases. Others use the word “it” to identify something they don’t know or understand. And other people could use the word to show that something is out casted or not wanted. This game could possibly be considered an indirect way of teaching bullying or harassment. So when we tell our kids to go play tag or something, are we instilling in them that isolating other people is good or funny? “IT” is defiantly something to ponder.