He said if students don't play nice, you don't take the game away — you teach them how to play nice.

"Now playground equipment is better, there is more supervision, and if anything we should be giving kids more opportunities to play those types of sports, not taking them away," Beatty said.

Though opinions vary among school leaders about playground rules, they say the games haven't changed much over the years.

Though many schools have added running tracks, and students do more jogging or walking for exercise at recess, the old school games are still alive and well.

Tetherball is still one of the most popular. Four-square and soccer are still big favorites, and tag, "boys chase girls" and other variations of the game are still common at those schools that allow it.

Beatty said at his school it will continue to be game-on when it comes to a few of the traditional contact games.

"Sure there are risks, but risk is manageable," he said. "It's all in terms of management of that risk —schools who ignore it pay the price. Schools who manage it do really well."

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E-mail: terickson@desnews.com