Comments about ‘Study says safety-first playgrounds may stunt emotional growth’

There was a playground in a park near where I grew up in Seattle. It had this HUGE slide that everyone would come to use. Unfortunately, so many kids broke their arms the city replaced it with a plastic anti-fun slide. Probably a common story. I don't think I was emotionally damaged, but I definitely stopped going to that park.

Anyone who feels their park's playground isn't "risky" enough, send your kids to Mountain Man Park here in Kearns. We've recently introduced the option of dodging bullets while playing on the swings. Now that's risk!

Not too safe, but they can be too sterile, and they are.

Yes, gone are the days of the school playground filled with excitement. I am thinking in particular of the Giant Strides. We would rush out to get on one of the 8 ladder-type chains hanging down. Everyone ran in the same direction and leaped into the air to fly around with no feet touching the ground. The very best was when one person passed her swing over the top of the other seven chains and hung on for dear life. When everyone began running, the chain on top would pull outward and you were in for the ride of your life. Oh Wow!! that was fun. And nobody was ever hurt. Blisters, yes, but no broken bones in spite of the fact that if you let go on that ride, you could possibly end up in the next county. Those were the days.

You realize, don't you , that this safety-first obsession is a product of our ever-more-litigious society.

Wouldn't it be great if society as a whole were as cautious about movie content, internet content, game content, etc. as it is about physical safety?

From this mom's perspective that would be awesome!

And the reason behind this: Parents send their kids to the park, and then don't even watch them after that. So if there is any danger, they don't want any responsibility that their kids might be hurt. For my 2 1/2 year old, the park is pretty risky. Climbing up the rope ladders and other things that are simple for other children are pretty hard for him. But I am right there with him so that he can figure it out and take those risks.
I have friends in their late 20's who don't know how to ride a bike, because their parents thought it was too dangerous when they were growing up. We see more kids dependent on their parents for a longer period of time, because we don't let our children get out into the world and experience it for themselves.

Darwin was right. And we can't out safety or out litigate it.

Parents now days are irresponsible and blame everything on everyone else for their lack of supervision!!

one of my children fell off a climbing item when he was about 5 and broke his arm - no big deal. He still at the age of 31 likes to take risks but is more careful about it. Didn't damage him at all. Oh and no problem with the arm.

The playgrounds today are more boring than they used to be. When I was little I broke my arm 3 different times on a playground. No big deal I was ok and we didn't need to sue anyone.