We’ve noticed for some time now that playgrounds are getting “safer”. This article says they aren’t safe enough! They say that children shouldn’t be allowed to play on monkey bars and the carousel. One of our favorite parks to go to, the Tot Lot, recently remodeled. The new big toy is cool, but the bridge doesn’t swing anymore. It looks like it is supposed to, but it does not swing. Thankfully, they left the tire swing. 🙂
“Safer playgrounds aren’t an excuse for parents to be lazy,” Kenny Kramm, a Bethesda, Md. businessman and father, said. “But I don’t think there are many parents who, when they go to a park, actually go on the equipment with the children and take the fall with them. These things may seem minute, but when it happens to your family, it’s not minute. It’s not good parenting to say kids will be kids.”
We need to teach our kids how to play, and what is safe, etc. That is common sense. What gets me are the parents who send their kids to the park/playground ALONE. We live right by a school and there are kids who go there to play with no parental supervision. Now, not only is that bad because of all the weirdos out there, but who’s to be watching out for them? Isn’t that your job as a parent, to guard your children? Oh, and today I saw two kids – they were young, one of them may have only been 6 or 7 – skateboarding THROUGH the Home Depot parking lot!!! They weren’t even in an area where there weren’t any cars! They were right up where everyone was parking.
These people, the ones who send their kids to the park alone, or let them skateboard in parking lots, are the ones who will sue when something happens to their kid. Maybe there should be a test before you can conceive. Then we could weed out people like this.
Things like playground “safety” and not allowing kids to play games (if you read the article, you will hear why children shouldn’t play dodgeball) just makes it harder for kids to be kids. They need time to just be silly. It helps them discover who they are. And when people start making rules, things get less fun to do. Like the article said, safety is an issue, but getting kids out and moving is an even bigger concern in America today.
