The gym-class standard has fans and foes. Ashley Kelly throws during a game of dodgeball in Riverton, Burlington County.
Balls are softer than ones used years ago.
The sixth graders could hardly sit still on the gym floor in Riverton Public School. Two teams assembled on opposite sides of the gym and threw soft, foam balls at each other, laughing and cheering and scampering to pick up balls and hurl them back. Dodgeball, in its many versions, used to be a gym-class staple as familiar as jump rope and jumping jacks to anyone who attended public school. While many gym teachers support the change, others see dodgeball as a harmless game that students love and that provides a good aerobic workout. Rick Swalm, head of the Temple University program that trains physical-education teachers, is among those who are adamantly against dodgeball.