Can you believe it? Pogs are back! To hear some teachers tell it, though, they never really went away.

The schoolyard game originated on Maui in the 1920s, made a reappearance in the 1970s as "milk covers" and came roaring back in the early 1990s as "pogs," a name derived from the passion-orange-guava drink sold by Maui's Haleakala Dairy.

For a while, there were pogs everywhere. The police department was handing out DARE pogs. Radio personalities gave away pogs with their caricatured likenesses on them. People sold pogs at the swap meet.

And then things got quiet. As happens with fads, pogs got old.

But now, in the hallways of some O'ahu schools, kids are huddled together slapping down their kinis trying to knock down a stack of faux milk covers.

Dole Middle School principal Myron Monte says the game was re-introduced to provide a more subdued alternative to the boisterous "chase master" that was getting a bit too wild last school year.

"This year we wanted to tone it down, so my PCNC (parent coordinator) sold pogs in our Dole Dollar store," Monte said. "Now the students are sitting down in the corridors and challenging each other."

It's been a good thing in that kids aren't running full speed into each other anymore, but on the downside, poggers are crowding the walkways.

"The problem now is that in certain corridors, it's hard to navigate through the players," Monte said.

Other reports of pogs sightings come from Nanaikapono on the Leeward Coast, Kalihi Waena, Fern, Linapuni, 'Aiea, Pearl City and 'Ewa Beach.

If it was like mapping an outbreak, the epicenter would be Kalihi, with a slow spread west. In East Honolulu and on the Windward side — nothing but Bakugan. (That's another story)

But pogs could be showing up soon. There are two major factors in the life cycle of pogs: a new batch of kids discovering their simple, fascinating charm, and the frayed nerves of teachers who finally say, "Enough!"

"Sometimes these crazes are seasonal ... and they build to a big frenzy until they start driving everyone crazy and the schools start imposing rules," said Lisa DeLong, Leeward superintendent.

At Dole, the school has an ingenious way of keeping pog players in check:

"Pogs are routinely confiscated in the classroom and cafeteria when students are attempting to play with them at inappropriate times," Monte said. "These pogs are sent to the Dole Dollar Store for resale."

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.