If you take a look at your neighborhood playground, what do you see? Do you see a place for learning and exploration, or is it simply 30 minutes that you pray you can “get through” without any cuts, falls, or scrapes? The good folks over at Yahoo! Shine think that playgrounds have become too safe over the past couple decades:
Playgrounds these days are usually brightly colored things, low-slung plastic-coated structures with short, gently sloping slides, set on surfaces covered with shredded rubber or wood chips. No see-saws. No hand-pulled twirling whirling rides. No super-high jungle gyms to climb. Swings (if there are any) often have safety bars and seat belts attached.
But that wasn’t the case just a generation ago…Blame a litigious society. Or, maybe, helicopter parents. But the increased focus on safety may have had unintended consequences: a generation of kids who aren’t able to accurately assess risk or cope with fear.
Read the full article here and let us know what you think.
Have you noticed the increase in safety measures at your local playground? Is it a good thing or is a basic part of childhood getting banged up on the playground?
I don’t know if we are or not, but I remember how fun the se saw and merry go round used to be. I remember being on the seesaw and while you are up in the air, the other person on the opposite side would jump off and you will plummet down hitting the ground in pain, lol, those were the days! Although the pain was minor, it surely didn’t hurt enough to keep me away from the seesaw. I think now parents are a little too overprotective, we are living in a country where everyone wants to file a lawsuit for everything. So I guess as I think about it, we are not raising a bunch of wimps, we are just protecting ourselves from the possibility of lawsuits when we allow our kids to just be kids.
I don’t know if we are or not, but I remember how fun the se saw and merry go round used to be. I remember being on the seesaw and while you are up in the air, the other person on the opposite side would jump off and you will plummet down hitting the ground in pain, lol, those were the days! Although the pain was minor, it surely didn’t hurt enough to keep me away from the seesaw. I think now parents are a little too overprotective, we are living in a country where everyone wants to file a lawsuit for everything. So I guess as I think about it, we are not raising a bunch of wimps, we are just protecting ourselves from the possibility of lawsuits when we allow our kids to just be kids.
I don’t know if we are or not, but I remember how fun the se saw and merry go round used to be. I remember being on the seesaw and while you are up in the air, the other person on the opposite side would jump off and you will plummet down hitting the ground in pain, lol, those were the days! Although the pain was minor, it surely didn’t hurt enough to keep me away from the seesaw. I think now parents are a little too overprotective, we are living in a country where everyone wants to file a lawsuit for everything. So I guess as I think about it, we are not raising a bunch of wimps, we are just protecting ourselves from the possibility of lawsuits when we allow our kids to just be kids.
I don’t know if we are or not, but I remember how fun the se saw and merry go round used to be. I remember being on the seesaw and while you are up in the air, the other person on the opposite side would jump off and you will plummet down hitting the ground in pain, lol, those were the days! Although the pain was minor, it surely didn’t hurt enough to keep me away from the seesaw. I think now parents are a little too overprotective, we are living in a country where everyone wants to file a lawsuit for everything. So I guess as I think about it, we are not raising a bunch of wimps, we are just protecting ourselves from the possibility of lawsuits when we allow our kids to just be kids.
We all remember “the good old days” when fun involved a little risk to safety. But that was a big part of the thrill of play on Jungle Gym bars, and swinging higher and higher.Recently, we have been teaching our grandchildren to ride their bikes. Their parents left them with us along with a big armful of safety gear — helmets, knee pads, elbow pads, gloves. It takes more time to put on dall the gear than the time spent riding the bikes. A great part of learning to ride a bike was a focus on preventing injury as your skill — and speed — increased. After a fall on one ocassion without the gear, my daughter expressed her concern about safety. I asked, “Did you have any of this when you learned to ride a bike?”
Safety is important, but too much focus on protection and safety does increase the potential for kids becoming wimps. That is my old school view.
We all remember “the good old days” when fun involved a little risk to safety. But that was a big part of the thrill of play on Jungle Gym bars, and swinging higher and higher.Recently, we have been teaching our grandchildren to ride their bikes. Their parents left them with us along with a big armful of safety gear — helmets, knee pads, elbow pads, gloves. It takes more time to put on dall the gear than the time spent riding the bikes. A great part of learning to ride a bike was a focus on preventing injury as your skill — and speed — increased. After a fall on one ocassion without the gear, my daughter expressed her concern about safety. I asked, “Did you have any of this when you learned to ride a bike?”
Safety is important, but too much focus on protection and safety does increase the potential for kids becoming wimps. That is my old school view.
We all remember “the good old days” when fun involved a little risk to safety. But that was a big part of the thrill of play on Jungle Gym bars, and swinging higher and higher.Recently, we have been teaching our grandchildren to ride their bikes. Their parents left them with us along with a big armful of safety gear — helmets, knee pads, elbow pads, gloves. It takes more time to put on dall the gear than the time spent riding the bikes. A great part of learning to ride a bike was a focus on preventing injury as your skill — and speed — increased. After a fall on one ocassion without the gear, my daughter expressed her concern about safety. I asked, “Did you have any of this when you learned to ride a bike?”
Safety is important, but too much focus on protection and safety does increase the potential for kids becoming wimps. That is my old school view.
Yup. A lil bump teaches kids how to cope. Helmets, sure. But knee pads, elbow pads, gloves, reflective gear for daytime play…? NO.
Yup. A lil bump teaches kids how to cope. Helmets, sure. But knee pads, elbow pads, gloves, reflective gear for daytime play…? NO.
Yup. A lil bump teaches kids how to cope. Helmets, sure. But knee pads, elbow pads, gloves, reflective gear for daytime play…? NO.