Children's play equipment too safe for their own good, expert warns

Eric Frei · 30th May 2011, 08:18 PM

There'd be a few of you who like me would likely say, "tell us something we don't know."

Cartwheels are banned in the school my kids go to, so are some ball games and you'd have rocks in your head if you thought you'd play a round of brandy.

Children's play equipment too safe for their own good, expert warns | Courier Mail

Quote:

May 30, 2011
PLAY equipment designed by "safety Nazis" shouldn't prevent children from taking risks and enjoying themselves, a child expert has warned.

More kids aged two to seven were getting injured in playgrounds because they didn't know how to take calculated risks.

A speaker at the Early Childhood Education Conference in Melbourne this week, early childhood specialist Prue Walsh said modern "plastic fantastic" playgrounds were too safe.

"Often playgrounds are designed by engineers who have no knowledge of children," she said.

"Children need to actively explore and discover the world around them and to do that they need to learn to take calculated risks," she said.

Playground injuries were often a result of children being poorly co-ordinated because they did not know how to negotiate risks, Ms Walsh said.

"I worry about children who don't run up slippery slides," she said.

Ms Walsh said commercial pressures, such as insurance premiums, had influenced the design of today's playgrounds.

"Parents are scared of their precious children getting injured and teachers are scared of getting sued," she said.

To improve playgrounds, Ms Walsh suggested longer and bigger slides built into embankments to eliminate falls.

Also, smooth boulders for balancing, shallow ponds for exploring and plenty of vegetation to provide nooks and crannies for children to crawl around.

Triple P Parenting Program founder Professor Matt Sanders said children should be in a place safe where they can have accidents and falls.

"You want equipment that are in parks and children using toys that we buy to be basically safe so that kids can't be easily injured on them or accidents that easily occur," he said.

"But at the same time we should be encouraged kids to be kids and to enjoy themselves.

"Exploring, climbing and experimenting is part of childhood but when it's done when adequate supervision the risks are minimal."

Also:- Why playing in the dirt makes kids smart

Quote:

November 24, 2010
PARENTS, step away from the baby wipes and put that hand sanitiser away - eating dirt could actually make your child smarter.

Research published in the current issue of Kidsafe NSW's playgrounds newsletter shows the positive side of a soil-borne bacteria that is likely to be inhaled when children are playing outside.

Academics discovered that mice that were fed the dirt bacteria Mycobacterium vaccae navigated complex mazes twice as fast as those which were not.

The research, presented in the US earlier this year, was welcomed by Kidsafe NSW Playground Advisory Unit program manager Kate Fraser as another reason kids should be encouraged to get outside and get dirty.

"Over the past few years terms like 'cotton wool kids' and 'helicopter parents' are becoming really common," Ms Fraser said.

"So we thought it was time to air the laundry on what's happening with our play spaces and make sure we are offering kids challenges.

"We need to make playgrounds safe, but also offer a certain amount of risk and controlled risk. It's a real balancing act."

It is believed the bacteria increases levels of serotonin, reduces anxiety and may also stimulate growth in certain neurons in the brain.

Ms Fraser said that while playing in the dirt was great, parents should take care around potting mix, which can contain harmful bacteria.

"But as long as safety directions are followed, that can be a great learning experience, too," she said.

The research will be a relief to the parents who know it's almost impossible to stop children getting dirty.

Nicole Livisianos, of Zetland, said her one-year-old Sebastian loves to get messy.

"We come to the park almost every afternoon and he is always into something dirty," she said. "There's no point trying to stop him."

Providing natural play environments is a topic at the Kidsafe NSW Playground Conference next week.

"Many pre-schools and schools are planting sustainable garden beds and are teaching kids how plants grow," Ms Fraser said.

"They learn about the environment and where their food comes from. The benefits are endless. The trend is definitely to make the most of the natural environment."

Drouin Tree Service · 30th May 2011, 09:14 PM

Yep and they wonder why its getting near impossible to hire/train young people

Like the old technical schools you could weld,use a lathe,spray paint,re build motors no way would the saftey police allow that!

Its like an attack of zombies but its just morons!!

Done it · 31st May 2011, 01:16 AM

It's getting to a sad state everywhere.

A pre school I do some work for asked me to remove a large olive tree last year, not a good tree IMO but it was a good shade tree for the play area and what was left to play on.

Reason: Dept of something said no trees children can climb on. I said why don't you just put a square fence around it? A lot cheaper. Went there a few months ago to clear some power lines, HOT day, and there was a nice little fence around it and some happy little kids playing in the shade.

I missed out on $850.

Garry Brockley · 31st May 2011, 06:47 PM

Ive watched my kids fall over, cut themselves (not badly) trip over things and generally do stupid things kids do since they were old enough to crawl, i always stood back shook my head and carried on doing whatever i was doing, but the looks i used to get from the helicopter parents (mostly mothers) giving it oh my god why arent you caring for your child, what a bad parent!! blah blah blah, funny enough thier brats would cry for hours if they scuffed a finger, mine just brushed themselves down and carried on playing, with a quick smile to dad and its forgotten.
nanny state

Apocalypsse · 1st June 2011, 09:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Done it

It's getting to a sad state everywhere.

A pre school I do some work for asked me to remove a large olive tree last year, not a good tree IMO but it was a good shade tree for the play area and what was left to play on.

Reason: Dept of something said no trees children can climb on. I said why don't you just put a square fence around it? A lot cheaper. Went there a few months ago to clear some power lines, HOT day, and there was a nice little fence around it and some happy little kids playing in the shade.

I missed out on $850.

Snap. You should have quoted to establish a TPZ :P

Bowani Siam · 2nd June 2011, 04:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Garry Brockley

Ive watched my kids fall over, cut themselves (not badly) trip over things and generally do stupid things kids do since they were old enough to crawl, i always stood back shook my head and carried on doing whatever i was doing, but the looks i used to get from the helicopter parents (mostly mothers) giving it oh my god why arent you caring for your child, what a bad parent!! blah blah blah, funny enough thier brats would cry for hours if they scuffed a finger, mine just brushed themselves down and carried on playing, with a quick smile to dad and its forgotten.
nanny state

hahahaha cute!!!!

Honestly, it really has become ridiculous. Accidents happen. That's life. If a kid breaks their leg, who cares? They don't. They've got a sweet story, a couple of weeks off school and a cast for their friends to sign! If they graze their knee or whatever, often all they want is for you to tell them they're fine - and then hey presto! they are! The parents react more to the accidents than the kids a lot of the time..

I remember the good old days of the rickety, splintery slide ('the Lacerator')... the mile-high swings...and the old trusty merry-go-round that would spit out the hapless weaker kids. Great times, great times... All this Safe-T-Play equipment is so bogus it's not funny. And don't get me started on the Pine-O-Clean generation. How can poisonous chemicals all over every surface of the house be 'better for you' than some fingerprints and food stains?? How are kids ever going to build up any immunity to anything?

If (god forbid) I should have a kid they are sure as hell gonna get out there, make some dirt pie AND EAT IT!!!

Drouin Tree Service · 2nd June 2011, 05:58 PM

The local swimming pool had a 3meter a 5 meter and a 10 meter diving tower,was great for a day out and the making of a few men jumping from the "10"

Not long back the diving pool got filled in with dirt to dangerous.

Kids cant do anything these days i feel sorry that they miss out on the hard knocks along the journey.

Apocalypsse · 3rd June 2011, 10:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by very_sarcastic

I remember the good old days of the rickety, splintery slide ('the Lacerator')... the mile-high swings...and the old trusty merry-go-round that would spit out the hapless weaker kids. Great times, great times... All this Safe-T-Play equipment is so bogus it's not funny. And don't get me started on the Pine-O-Clean generation. How can poisonous chemicals all over every surface of the house be 'better for you' than some fingerprints and food stains?? How are kids ever going to build up any immunity to anything?

I'm still fairly young but my primary school days still had all the fun playground equipment. A big fort made of pine posts, this high (probably 2.5-3m, maybe less) monkey bars where if you fell from the top you were gonna break something. Now the school has replaced all that fun stuff with your standard modern boring playground. There was also this park in Coburg, had this straight slide that was about 25m-30m long. Now thats gone too. Was great being a kid back then, when you could actually go out and have some fun, all the video games keep the keeps inside now.

Eric Frei · 23rd May 2012, 09:08 PM

So where I live now I used to put a rope swing up on a jacaranda tree right out the front, it's now banned, citing of course OHS and insurance liability.

Common denominator is the people making such decision are generally inactive, generally do not play with kids, generally do not have a physical job but they decide what is safe and more importantly where they are exposed to litigation in the event of an accident.

Of course it's common sense that if you do not want your kid on the swing I put up, let them and me know and they do not get on it. I put the rope swing up, I supervise it and it is a lot of fun for the kids. No injuries to date at all.

Stiff cheddar, fuddy duddy's rule and their crap prevails.

But I read this today, just some reinforcement of what these inactive people are doing.

Let children judge risks, be resilient | The Courier-Mail

Quote:

Let children judge risks, be resilient

by: Maggie Dent
From: The Courier-Mail
May 23, 2012 12:00AM

WHEN I was a young lass, most of the kids I knew only had to be hit once or twice in the chin by a wayward seesaw before we learnt the playground was a place requiring a bit of caution and some skill.

These days, not many playgrounds have wooden seesaws or metal maypoles or long monkey bars or sand under the swings. Modern playgrounds are a much more structured, safer option, or so we think.

We'd also ride our bikes to the playground and hang about there for hours without our parents' supervision.

Mostly, life isn't like that anymore and while on one level that's a good thing, on many levels we are doing our children a terrible disservice.

This weekend, I am sharing a C&K conference panel in Brisbane with, among others, controversial author Lenore Skenazy (via Skype) who caused a stir worldwide when she allowed her nine-year-old son to ride the New York subway. Also on the panel, in person, is UK author Tim Gill, a passionate advocate for risk-taking and giving children access to the natural world.

We're going to be talking about children's rights and, for me and, I suspect, my aforementioned co-panellists, one I feel most passionate about is the right for children to play, to learn from their mistakes and to bounce back from life's challenges.

As Jane Fynes-Clinton wrote (CM, April 26) of a parent who was suing a 13-year-old for accidentally hitting his daughter in the eye with a tennis ball, accidents happen.

What worries me is we have spent so much time trying to safely guide our children and prevent bad things from happening to them that we are dissolving their ability to judge risk for themselves which ironically sets them up for disaster.

We have also created a world so busy and an education system so focused on academic results that we are providing our children with fewer and fewer opportunities for unstructured play.

We are diminishing their freedom in just "being" kids seeking fun and having experiences that are massively engaging.

Research consistently proves that play helps children learn about risk-taking, being creative and imaginative, having choices and autonomy.

Play is how we learn to wait, to take turns, to develop the art of strategy, to lose and to win graciously. When it's set outside in the natural world, it's also fantastic exercise, good for children's spirits and can reduce stress.

Young children require the movements of rough-and-tumble play, spinning, balancing and rolling, for certain aspects of brain development to occur.

Perhaps most importantly, unstructured play stimulates our curiosity and develops our "seeking mechanism".

An under-active seeking mechanism in adulthood can contribute to a person staying stuck in an unloving relationship, or in a boring and soulless job. We may not be able to imagine alternative scenarios for ourselves.

If we, as parents, teachers, indeed, as a society, don't start taking play more seriously and allow our children to take a few risks, we are denying them the opportunity to be resilient human beings. And the world definitely needs more of those.

Jeff Darby · 24th May 2012, 10:01 AM

I remember growing up and playing in parks all over Sydney while visiting Aunts and Uncles the only thing that really ever happend to me was when I lost a little skin from playing rough. One thing that sticks in my mind is when my mum made me a superman cape and I really thought I could fly and leap over tall buildings... which I did in a park in Surry Hills, Frogs Hollow, when I jumped off a high wall and proclaimed..."up up and away" it was great untill I hit the ground...lol my Mum hid my cape from me after that ! but hey I learnt from it.

All of us would use the swings, sea saws and of course our older cousins would suck us younger ones in and bail off the sea saw and let you slam into the ground rattling your bones we survived and became smarter and wiser..I could go on with these experiences from my child hood things that happened while playing in parks but I wont as there is not enough time or space in this post.

Bottom line is I learnt from these times I played in parks with my family and other families in the real world. Kids need to loose a little skin, have bleeding noses...near miss experience so they learn to trust their instincts. We survived so will they..let them have a a childhood so they can become responsible adults.

Bowani Siam · 24th May 2012, 11:03 AM

hahahaha I know that Frog Hollow pretty well, and I reckon I would be more scared of landing in a pile of Poodle shit than breaking a bone. hahahah

Can't agree more though, kids (through no fault of their own) are not getting the opportunity to develop their risk assessment skills. Aside from the fact that they aren't allowed to RUN in playgrounds at many primary schools, parents are getting more cautious and I think a lot of it has to do with them not wanting to appear irresponsible and neglectful if their kid shows up with their arm in plaster. Shame really.

Eric Frei · 24th May 2012, 11:16 AM

I have placed the attached into 43 letterboxes along with a print out of this thread.

To imagine that a consulting arborist lives at this site and had ZERO input for such a decision is a serious smack in the face.

I told the manager last year to cut down a jacaranda before it fell down .... they didn't and it fell down.

Jacaranda trees over the driveway are inundated with large deadwood as they are declining, the other day a large dead section fell, luckily no-one around at the time. The jacaranda tree I use for the rope swing has no deadwood (it is a good one). It does have a basal bifurcation but the swing installation goes through the two leaders higher up pulling the tree together not apart making it extremely strong.

One of the pathetic excuses I heard for the banning was that Body Corp committee members can also be sued for damages. Hello, nothing new in that, so can business owners, managers and Directors of just about any place. Most insurance policies cover both the Body Corp and it's members unless you buy some cheap nasty policy I suppose. I know with Australian Tree Association's insurance Directors also get cover .... no-one is exposed but the banter and hype suggesting such makes people run for cover and ban simple things like this. Another typical case of the blind leading the blind .... no leadership, no risk assessment, no stats, no facts, no methodology, frankly no idea from FUDDY DUDDY's.

The kids loved this, it was perhaps the greatest thing many, including the manager's kid, liked to do. Now banned.

Eric Frei · 24th May 2012, 06:17 PM

Audio of Maggie Dent, people really need to listen to this and stop being such fuddy duddy's.

What's missing from today's childhood? - ABC Perth - Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Tom Forrest · 24th May 2012, 10:45 PM

A really interesting thread. Being a secondary teacher, I have seen and still see over engineered playgrounds due to the fear of a kid falling and being hurt. Playgrounds now fall into 1 of 2 categories; a) basically a open space with just a netball or basketball hoop, or b) monkey bars/slides etc on a super spongy brightly coloured recycled rubber mounded surface. Obviously the old bark covered playgrounds just aren't good enough for our governments.

Interestingly, down here in Victoria, Outdoor Education (which is seen as a vital link for kids to learn how to measure up and take responsible risks in the outdoors) is offered as a senior subject either as a VETIS program or the more traditional VCE (Yr 11/12) program. Unfortunately our National Curriculum for schools does not appear to be supporting outdoor education as a subject. This of course leads to the big question; If our kids no longer have access to resposible risk taking through outdoor education, and playgrounds are almost accident proof, what will the kid of tomorrow be like? I really do feel for industries such as the tree industry, because simply the kids coming out of schools will have even less "common sense", ultimately leading to higher training costs...that's if you can get the kids through the door into the training in the first place!

An interesting little fact I came across a few years ago was the need to be extra vigilant with playground supervision with recently arrived refugees from countries such as Sudan. Why? Due largely due to poor nutrion in their early years, many of the Sudanese refugees had really poor bones (weak/brittle) and activities such as running around a playground, impacts that would normally lead to bruising only, would often lead to bone fractures. So in this case, extra safe play equipmentg is reasonable until issues like bone densities improve. BUT THIS IS THE EXCEPTION

Anyway, that's enough of my ranting!

30th May 2011, 09:14 PM	#2
Drouin Tree Service Veteran Heritage Status Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Australia Posts: 1,728	Re: Children's play equipment too safe for their own good, expert warns Yep and they wonder why its getting near impossible to hire/train young people Like the old technical schools you could weld,use a lathe,spray paint,re build motors no way would the saftey police allow that! Its like an attack of zombies but its just morons!! __________________ Drouin Tree Services \| Excavator Hire - Drouin and SE Gippsland \| Landclearing Melbourne

31st May 2011, 01:16 AM	#3
Done it Over mature heritage tree Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Australia. Posts: 780	Re: Children's play equipment too safe for their own good, expert warns It's getting to a sad state everywhere. A pre school I do some work for asked me to remove a large olive tree last year, not a good tree IMO but it was a good shade tree for the play area and what was left to play on. Reason: Dept of something said no trees children can climb on. I said why don't you just put a square fence around it? A lot cheaper. Went there a few months ago to clear some power lines, HOT day, and there was a nice little fence around it and some happy little kids playing in the shade. I missed out on $850.

31st May 2011, 06:47 PM	#4
Garry Brockley Bayside Tree Care Brisbane Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Brisbane Aus Posts: 1,641	Re: Children's play equipment too safe for their own good, expert warns Ive watched my kids fall over, cut themselves (not badly) trip over things and generally do stupid things kids do since they were old enough to crawl, i always stood back shook my head and carried on doing whatever i was doing, but the looks i used to get from the helicopter parents (mostly mothers) giving it oh my god why arent you caring for your child, what a bad parent!! blah blah blah, funny enough thier brats would cry for hours if they scuffed a finger, mine just brushed themselves down and carried on playing, with a quick smile to dad and its forgotten. nanny state __________________ My business:- Brisbane Bayside Tree Care

2nd June 2011, 05:58 PM	#7
Drouin Tree Service Veteran Heritage Status Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Australia Posts: 1,728	Re: Children's play equipment too safe for their own good, expert warns The local swimming pool had a 3meter a 5 meter and a 10 meter diving tower,was great for a day out and the making of a few men jumping from the "10" Not long back the diving pool got filled in with dirt to dangerous. Kids cant do anything these days i feel sorry that they miss out on the hard knocks along the journey. __________________ Drouin Tree Services \| Excavator Hire - Drouin and SE Gippsland \| Landclearing Melbourne

24th May 2012, 10:01 AM	#10
Jeff Darby Moderator - Previously known as JayD Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: TreeWorld, Sydney Australia Posts: 2,059	Re: Children's play equipment too safe for their own good, expert warns I remember growing up and playing in parks all over Sydney while visiting Aunts and Uncles the only thing that really ever happend to me was when I lost a little skin from playing rough. One thing that sticks in my mind is when my mum made me a superman cape and I really thought I could fly and leap over tall buildings... which I did in a park in Surry Hills, Frogs Hollow, when I jumped off a high wall and proclaimed..."up up and away" it was great untill I hit the ground...lol my Mum hid my cape from me after that ! but hey I learnt from it. All of us would use the swings, sea saws and of course our older cousins would suck us younger ones in and bail off the sea saw and let you slam into the ground rattling your bones we survived and became smarter and wiser..I could go on with these experiences from my child hood things that happened while playing in parks but I wont as there is not enough time or space in this post. Bottom line is I learnt from these times I played in parks with my family and other families in the real world. Kids need to loose a little skin, have bleeding noses...near miss experience so they learn to trust their instincts. We survived so will they..let them have a a childhood so they can become responsible adults. __________________ Member: Australian Tree Association Join the Australian Tree Association...Have your voice heard ! Arboriculture, A life long study for some, a passing phase for others © Jeffrey J Darby 2011 Last edited by Jeff Darby; 24th May 2012 at 11:01 AM.

24th May 2012, 11:03 AM	#11
Bowani Siam Mature tree Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Sydney Posts: 320	Re: Children's play equipment too safe for their own good, expert warns hahahaha I know that Frog Hollow pretty well, and I reckon I would be more scared of landing in a pile of Poodle shit than breaking a bone. hahahah Can't agree more though, kids (through no fault of their own) are not getting the opportunity to develop their risk assessment skills. Aside from the fact that they aren't allowed to RUN in playgrounds at many primary schools, parents are getting more cautious and I think a lot of it has to do with them not wanting to appear irresponsible and neglectful if their kid shows up with their arm in plaster. Shame really.

24th May 2012, 06:17 PM	#13
Eric Frei Admin - Owner Palm & Tree Services in Brisbane Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Brisbane Posts: 12,993	Re: Children's play equipment too safe for their own good, expert warns Audio of Maggie Dent, people really need to listen to this and stop being such fuddy duddy's. What's missing from today's childhood? - ABC Perth - Australian Broadcasting Corporation __________________ Protect your rights to work - Join Australian Tree Association My businesses:- Qualified Brisbane Palm and Tree Lopping \| Stump Grinding Brisbane \| Brisbane - Gold Coast Consulting Arborist

24th May 2012, 10:45 PM	#14
Tom Forrest Sappling Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Mt Macedon, Vic Posts: 41	Re: Children's play equipment too safe for their own good, expert warns A really interesting thread. Being a secondary teacher, I have seen and still see over engineered playgrounds due to the fear of a kid falling and being hurt. Playgrounds now fall into 1 of 2 categories; a) basically a open space with just a netball or basketball hoop, or b) monkey bars/slides etc on a super spongy brightly coloured recycled rubber mounded surface. Obviously the old bark covered playgrounds just aren't good enough for our governments. Interestingly, down here in Victoria, Outdoor Education (which is seen as a vital link for kids to learn how to measure up and take responsible risks in the outdoors) is offered as a senior subject either as a VETIS program or the more traditional VCE (Yr 11/12) program. Unfortunately our National Curriculum for schools does not appear to be supporting outdoor education as a subject. This of course leads to the big question; If our kids no longer have access to resposible risk taking through outdoor education, and playgrounds are almost accident proof, what will the kid of tomorrow be like? I really do feel for industries such as the tree industry, because simply the kids coming out of schools will have even less "common sense", ultimately leading to higher training costs...that's if you can get the kids through the door into the training in the first place! An interesting little fact I came across a few years ago was the need to be extra vigilant with playground supervision with recently arrived refugees from countries such as Sudan. Why? Due largely due to poor nutrion in their early years, many of the Sudanese refugees had really poor bones (weak/brittle) and activities such as running around a playground, impacts that would normally lead to bruising only, would often lead to bone fractures. So in this case, extra safe play equipmentg is reasonable until issues like bone densities improve. BUT THIS IS THE EXCEPTION Anyway, that's enough of my ranting!

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