Before School Closures, Kids Were Playing ‘Coronavirus Tag’ on the Playground

Pretty much everything has changed in the time of coronavirus and, for kids, most notably, how they can — or can’t — play. Playdates are being limited, schools have closed, and birthday parties are being canceled.

Some children, though, found a new way to play. Only it turns out the game was potentially more dangerous to their health than their normal day-to-day activities.   

On Reddit recently, a man shared a text from his girlfriend, a teacher, who told him about the school’s policy regarding students not playing tag.

“So kids aren’t allowed to play tag at school…so my kids play Coronavirus. They couldn’t touch but coughed on each other to “tag” them,” the woman wrote.

Many people commented on the post that their children were also making up new games, with many of them probably spreading more germs than they would during the course of their regular activities.

“I asked my 10-year-old if kids were talking about Coronavirus at school and he says, ‘Yeah! We play a game called Coronavirus at recess,” said one parent. “Apparently it’s the same rules as a game called ‘infected’ that’s similar to tag. I had a good laugh about it actually.”

Some parents commented that these types of things proved that schools may need to move to online teaching. And sure enough, since this was posted to Reddit, a massive swath of schools across the country — and the world — has closed and forced students into an online learning situation.

“I’m a teacher and my school district is saying that they aren’t closing schools because kids can’t be carriers and can’t be affected by the virus even though our county has confirmed cases and counting,” said one. “Even if that was true, what about my coworkers? I can’t comprehend the level of stupidity.”

As of now, more than half of the children in the U.S. are out of school, with no reopening date in sight for many of the students.