Can a Playground Be Too Safe? 493
Hugh Pickens writes "John Tierney writes that the old 10-foot-high jungle gyms and slides disappeared from most American playgrounds across the country in recent decades because of parental concerns, federal guidelines, new safety standards set by manufacturers and — the most frequently cited factor — fear of lawsuits. But today some researchers question the value of safety-first playgrounds. Even if children do suffer fewer physical injuries — and the evidence for that is debatable — critics say that these playgrounds may stunt emotional development, leaving children with anxieties and fears that are ultimately worse than a broken bone. 'Climbing equipment needs to be high enough, or else it will be too boring in the long run,' says professor Ellen Sandseter. 'Children approach thrills and risks in a progressive manner, and very few children would try to climb to the highest point for the first time they climb. The best thing is to let children encounter these challenges from an early age, and they will then progressively learn to master them through their play over the years.' After observing children on playgrounds in Norway, England and Australia, Dr. Sandseter identified six categories of risky play, although fear of litigation led New York City officials to remove seesaws, merry-go-rounds and the ropes that young Tarzans used to swing from one platform to another."
When parents complain about bruises ... (Score:5, Informative)
I work with children, and sometimes they get sent home with bruises and scraped knees just because they were playing so vigorously. Most of the children I've seen will cry for a little bit, accept a bandage, then will be eager to do the same thing again.
Parents though, well, some of them will assume that the supervisors were negligent or abusive. Not all of them, not even many of them, since they tend to know how their kids play. But it is the ones that wrap their child in a protective coccoon that you have to be petrified of. Even those parents aren't so bad once they get to know you, to trust you, but a lot of them don't even bother.
The unfortunate truth is that those overly protective parents count for a lot because the consequences are many. Lawsuits is the often cited one, but losing your job or your license is an even bigger and more real concern. So all of the children suffer.
Interesting presentation on TED re: Child Safety (Score:4, Informative)
Came across this TED presentation last year:
http://www.ted.com/talks/gever_tulley_on_5_dangerous_things_for_kids.html [ted.com]
Definitely an interesting take on this whole issue of child safety regulations. The book (written by the presenter in the video above, Gever Tully) entitled "50 Dangerous Things (You should let your kids do)" is a really nice read.
jeff
Adventure Playground (Score:5, Informative)
"C. Th. SÃrensen, a Danish landscape architect, noticed that children preferred to play everywhere but in the playgrounds that he built. In 1931, he imagined "A junk playground in which children could create and shape, dream and imagine a reality." Why not give children in the city the same chances for play as those in the country? His initial ideas started the adventure playground movement.
The first adventure playground opened in Emdrup, Denmark in 1943, during World War II. In 1946, Lady Allen of Hurtwood visited Emdrup from England and was impressed with "junk playgrounds." She brought the idea to London. These "junk playgrounds" became known as "adventure playgrounds." "
http://adventureplaygrounds.hampshire.edu/history.html [hampshire.edu]
"The Adventure Playground at the Berkeley Marina was opened 31 years ago in 1979. It is a wonderfully unique outdoor facility where staff encourage children to play and build creatively. Come climb on the many unusual kid designed and built forts, boats, and towers. Ride the zip line or hammer, saw, and paint. By providing these low risk activities Adventure Playground creates opportunities for children to learn cooperation, meet physical challenges and gain self confidence. Pictures of a fort building project. The concept for Adventure Playgrounds originated in Europe after World War II, where a playground designer studied children playing in the "normal" asphalt and cement playgrounds. He found that they preferred playing in dirt and lumber from the post war rubble. He realized that children had the most fun designing and building their own equipment and manipulating their environment. The formula for Adventure Playgrounds includes Earth, fire, water, and lots of creative materials."
http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/contentdisplay.aspx?id=8656 [berkeley.ca.us]
And here's a song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQtwb3lQ_c0 [youtube.com]
Re:Stop pussyfying our youth (Score:3, Informative)
The word "pussy" describes someone that acts like a scared cat and can be used as a word for female genitals. The "scared-y cat" connotation, however, does not derive from the reference to female genitals. The two connotations share the same origin but for different reasons.
Re:In Canada (Score:5, Informative)
Rope jungle gym in France(30ft): http://www.flickr.com/photos/ctirpak/2473242331/in/photostream/lightbox/ [flickr.com]
Rope jungle gym in the USA(12ft): http://www.flickr.com/photos/pinion345/2108323331/lightbox/ [flickr.com]
Re:This "safety net problem" (Score:3, Informative)
The "safety net problem" is far bigger than that, indeed. Mostly, it's due to parents who would love to pack their kids in cotton boxes 'til they turn 18. Oddly, the same parents then kick their kids out as soon as they're 18, unprepared and unfit to survive in a world they have never seen.
Nope, it's worse: they still don't let them go, accompanying them to job interviews and trying to make sure their university profs are assigning them homework. Do a search on "helicopter parents" to read the true horror of what these morons are doing to their poor kids.
Re:This "safety net problem" (Score:3, Informative)
It's partly parenting, but I think it's the lawsuit factor that gets people scared.
Where once parents let their kids play and get cuts and scrapes, they now look at it as a sort of lawsuit jackpot. "My kid got hurt! Sue!" in the hopes of extracting a five or six figure settlement.
It only takes the court to issue one judgement in favor of the parent before all the stuff comes down. Then said idiot parent goes in front of all the TVs and bleats about how dangerous stuff is, etc.