When the lunch bell rang, students spilled out of Earl Beatty Public School, kicking up dirt as they skipped and trudged merrily across the schoolyard.

In track pants and sneakers, with ponytails swinging and juice boxes in hand, they didn’t exactly look like a revolt waiting to happen. Until they stormed the playground fence.

“We want our balls back! We want our balls back!” the students chanted, pumping their fists as supervisors in fluorescent vests blew whistles and tried to shoo them away from the fence and reporters gathered on the other side.

The group, about 100 strong, kept it up all through the Wednesday lunch break, some taking refuge from their shushing caretakers at the top of the jungle gym.

“You can take our balls,” one boy shouted, “but you can’t take our freedom!”

A tad dramatic, perhaps, but for students at the Danforth-area junior and senior school, this is serious stuff.

The trouble began Monday when students were sent home with a letter advising parents that hard balls would no longer be allowed in the schoolyard. That means no soccer balls, footballs, volleyballs or tennis balls.

The letter cited “a few serious incidents” in which students, staff and parents have been struck or nearly hit by flying balls. One parent suffered a concussion after she was hit in the back of the head with a soccer ball — an accident, students say.

New rules allow for only Nerf or sponge balls in the schoolyard. Many students and parents understand the concerns, but think the ban is unfair.

“I don’t think an all-out ban is an appropriate action,” said Diana Symonds, a parent of three students at the school.

In recent years, a number of traditional childhood games and activities have been banned from North American schoolyards for safety reasons, stirring up controversy: see-saws, swings, snowball-throwing, red rover — even tag.

“Next they’ll say you can’t run because kids fall or you can’t wear (shoe) laces because kids trip,” said Konstantina Alexiou, a Grade 8 student at Earl Beatty who has started a petition to get the balls back. Nearly 100 students have signed it so far.

A petition worked for students at a St. Catharines school when balls were banned from their playground earlier this month. Lockview Public School reversed the ban after a 10-year-old student started the petition and set up a meeting with the principal.

For now, Earl Beatty students will have to stick with sponge balls, about which they have a host of complaints: the balls don’t roll or toss well, they absorb water and get muddy, heavy and smelly.

“They’re indoor balls,” said 13-year-old Annabelle Grant who’s in Grade 8.

“If we don’t have balls we won’t be as active,” she said. “Most people don’t play tag any more because were not little kids.”

Principal Alicia Fernandez said the ban was necessary because of ongoing concerns about injury, but the decision will be reconsidered after a meeting with parents and teachers. No word yet on when that meeting will take place.

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“I can understand (concerns) about the aspect of happy play, but we have to balance happy and safe,” Fernandez said.

She also pointed out that the small size of the schoolyard makes it difficult to stay out of harm’s way when students are playing ball games.

Off school property on Wednesday, Alexiou and other student organizers of the “bring back our balls” petition ducked as a teacher cast a disapproving look in their direction. Teachers, she said, are not happy with the attention the ball ban has generated.

“I don’t think they should just hide it and not let it be an issue,” the 13-year-old said. “Because it is an issue for the kids.”

Schoolyard no-nos

Basketballs, soccer balls and footballs were banned from an Ottawa public school because teachers were concerned about injuries caused by frozen balls.

An elementary school in Colorado banned tag on its playground after some children complained they were being chased against their will.

Traditional schoolyard games like red rover and leapfrog have been banned at schools across North America and the U.K. by school staff concerned about arm and head injuries.

An elementary school in Australia banned unsupervised cartwheels, handstands and somersaults.

To discourage sexual behaviour, several schools in the U.K. have banned hugging and linking arms. One school banned all touching except to help a classmate who has fallen.