Why are there so many scholars mates in scholistic tournies?

My point--and this is borne upon fifteen years teaching chess to children in groups--is that any lesson presented to a group of children will be ignored by some of those children. By teaching the inattentive how to avoid scholar's mate, you prepare them for fleecing by the attentive.

One parent/coach blamed me at a small scholastic tournament (~50 elementary age competitors) that I ran. I announced at the start of the second round that I had not seen any scholar's mates in the first round. I was congratulating the children on having learned to avoid it. Five minutes later, four pairs of children were showing me their games that had ended in scholars mate. For the rest of the day, there were several every round. 

If I had said nothing, would there have been fewer cases? That was the contention of Coach Mike. 

No @Conflagration_Planet I am saying I agree with you that banning the Scholar's Mate is an idiotic idea.

More likely it means murikan kids' brains are frizzled from too much TV and digital poisoning.

Ziryab's comment was mint!

i thought it was banned i guess i should brush up and start playing it again

It's not rewarding ignorance at all. It's just sticking with the basic principle in chess that if you checkmate your opponent, you win, no matter how, as long as all moves were legal.

this thread keeps getting better!

I've never seen someone get a Scholar's Mate, so far.

Quite likely.

I used to play Bc4 + Ng5. The threat is more more subtle. :-)

Especially against the French Defense!

It sounds like you're agreeing with me, since I'm against banning it.

Food for thought.

Scholar's mate, if refuted, results in a poor opening as it brings the queen out too early.  Regardless, kids (and some adults) will keep trying it.  If they know that they can't win by scholar's mate, they may concentrate on learning opening principles.

I agree. It's stupid to ban it.

Conflagration_Planet

Banning Scholar's Mate in rated games is a bad idea, and won't happen.  However, especially when teaching younger children, it might be useful to prohibit Scholar's Mate in unrated club (classroom) games or tournaments.

I vaguely remember my chess instructor saying that he wouldn't allow Scholar's Mate, and I then forgot about it.

I just don't see how ignoring it (and protecting the unaware from it) will make anyone better (especially if they're paying for some chess education). I'd rather have it demonstrated to them why it's a bad idea to attempt a quick win with it, i.e., since it can quickly turn into a loss if the opponent knows what they're doing. For example, I like this Polgar video as a good demonstration of what I'm talking about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HujWLARJyNY

I find something along those lines to be good instruction wrt the Scholar's mate and much better than just pretending it doesn't exist/banning it.

The book that mentioned the numerious scholars mates was written in London by Susan Lalic. She wasn't the one saying they should be banned though.

What's the reasoning behind banning d4? Unless it's a typo.

Ah, ok, different story entirely :)