Reader comments
Advocates hope to make child's play safer

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uncannygunman | 6:41 a.m. July 24, 2008
Kind of reminds me of something I read about cigarettes: you can make them completely safe by replacing the filter with a wood dowel. Of course, they're no longer of much use to the smoker.
DennyG | 7:11 a.m. July 24, 2008
Why don't we just let kids play?
Todays society has taken the fun out of childs life and replaced it with helmets, pads, plastic, pillows and gloves.
I'm glad I grew up 50 years ago.
Dave | 7:34 a.m. July 24, 2008
We wonder why we are becoming obese. Oh of course that is Mcdonalds.
Comments continue below
Anonymous | 8:52 a.m. July 24, 2008
Let the kids play. Accidents happen but let kids be kids. The parks sure have changed since I was a kid. They aren't as fun anymore. Boring...eventually maybe all that will be left is grass and even then someone could trip and fall on the grass. Everyone is just too paranoid they are going to get sued and suing as well is way out of control in our country.
BotchedExperiment | 9:17 a.m. July 24, 2008
My 6 year old daughter is completely bored with all the parks around us. They are all newer, "safer" parks and have no swings, no monkey bars, no teeter totter, slides that slide at a rate of about a foot per minute, and 5 inch stairs leading up to everything.

In all seriousness, I have often wondered whether the sanitized playgrounds are teaching her the false lesson that the world is safe; that her environment will protect her, and therefore, she doesn't need to take responsibility for her own safety.
longtimereader | 9:30 a.m. July 24, 2008
I remember the giant metal slide at Big Cottonwood Park - it was very fast and lots of fun! My siblings and I spent many hours there and not one injury or broken bone. This was 35 years ago when I was free to ride my bike to the store, library, park and around the neighborhood; our front door was not locked; and kids played out on the lawn until dark while moms visited.
kris | 11:27 a.m. July 24, 2008
I had forgotten about the slide at Cottonwood Park, I remember the excitement of being able to ride bikes from my cousins to there. Thanks for the memory.
I agree that parks need to be kept safe, but how will a child grow and develop if they are not challenged. I learned at an early age (1st B-day) that the bright shiny thing on the cake was HOT, never did that again, no it was not child abuse, it was allowing a child to grow and explore their world in a supervised but not controlling. I agree with the comment of happy to have grown up years ago.

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Image
Keith Johnson, Deseret News

Kelson Lund, 4, left, and Skylar Smith, 11, play at Fitts Park in South Salt Lake Tuesday. The park will be getting $150,000 worth of safety improvements.

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