Have playgrounds become too safe for kids?

Too safe? I just read a Yahoo! article about how playgrounds are dangerous...

I still have the scar from a burn on the back of my thigh from a tall metal rocket ship slide that we had at our neighborhood park. That sucked so much, but you know what I did? Went home, put on a Band-Aid or two, put on a pair of jeans and went back out there.

Dammit, my daughter will do the same!

They really aren't afraid of children being bruised, or scraped, or pinched. They are afraid of the partents wanting to sue because their little darling got a boo boo. Put a bandaid on it and move n people.

We also have to blame an over protective medical community that calls CPS, whom then charges parents with child endgagerment if the 4 year old in the family tries to ride one of the big kid's bikes, falls off and needs stitches or an arm cast. Next thing you know it the kids are at the Children's Recieveing Home, in protective costody and the parents are trying to post bale.

We had the very high slides in elementary school. I remember slowly getting up the nerve to climb that ladder. One day, another kid came down the slide to close to me and I cracked my head on the side of the slide. The school called my mother, and I had my head wrapped up for several days. That was life, the way it was.
We also had the "monkey bars", "teter totter" and the "merry go round". They were all fun as I remember.

A local parent sued the parks and recreation because her son broke his arm while playing at the park during recreation in the summer. She said the staff was not watching him properly. Unless you were standing right under him I don't see how it would have been prevented - it was an accident! Kids have always gotten hurt and they were patched up and just fine. Now, people sue so that is why they've nearly eliminated any form of exciting, daring, FUN equipment on the playgrounds. Sad.

Sounds to me that the most dangerous thing on the playground for children at South Florida's Broward County school system is Safety Director Jerry Graziose. The main moving part on him that is dangerous is his mouth. (Which seems to be interchangeable with that orifice at his other end....)

used to play hockey on roller skates in the park ring with an iron fence all the way around, ahh the memories of the blood and stitches, we also played slow motion tackle football on concrete sidewalks when some one got semi unconcious we would carry him home and prop him at the door and ring the bell and run like hell so his mom wouldn.t yell at us

Finally!!!!! Why else do you think kids come out so small?!? So they can fall a bunch of times and bounce back up!

As a teacher I totally agree with this article. I think parents/society as a whole shelter kids way too much now, and the result is children are growing up lacking basic survival skills and being afraid of any kind of failure! Instead of wrapping our kids in bubble wrap, we should be encouraging them to analyze risks and take the ones they decide are worth it, and when they do fall, be there to pick them up, dust them off, and encourage them to reflect on what they have learned so they can try it all again.

Steel bars welded together over concrete and broken glass. Slides made of steel that reached temperatures of 2000 degrees F in the sun. Those were the days.

So there are some normal, sane, common sense people left alive. Maybe we should all move closer together and form a community with common sense. My two older kids grew up going to my grandparents house every Sunday. No TV, no electronics. They played outside. Usually took a friend or 3 with them. They took bikes, they played in the creek, fished, swung on huge grapevines, made tire swings, climbed trees, caught crawdads, played ball, frisbee, skated on the creek in winter, sometimes breaking thru the ice. They were never sick from this. And now they will tell you that was the best times in their lives.

How is playing tag dangerous? Sure you can fall, but it doesn't hurt that much.

FINALLY!!!! I've been saying this for years and my husband agrees. we both had the priviledge of growing up in an enviroment that encouraged kids to be outside. The park I grew up to experience wasn't some lame plastic slide that shocks you every time you go down it. we had metal slides and even some wide concrete ones three times as big. they were awesome! wooden jungel gyms with metal bars and concrete tubes to crawl through, tire swings & merry go rounds that we could fly off of. Today that playground has been replaced and I miss it. sure there were bumps & bruises to endure but I never minded. Only wish my own son could have our same experience

This is going overboard, I mean one day my daughter said she got in trouble for swinging to high! For lord"s sake someday, these kids will have to go play wrapped in bubble wrap!!! Why can't thay let the kids get hurt, then learn not to do it again. Wait, we have some parents in this society that sue over a sprained ankle, or a scratch on their elbow. We wouldn't want to not reimburse the parent for some bandaids or maybe some stitches. Why can't they get over it!

This is actually a great article. Sources cited, relevant topic about something important, good job,

Oh boy, are we finally starting to get smart about this? Many of us have been crying about this "precious cargo" crap ever since Baby On Board polluted the windows of every yuppy station wagon.

Life hurts. End of story. Get your bruises and bumps. Get some character.

Next target: the overzealous anti-bullying nonsense that's going around. In my day, getting made fun of and getting into scrapes with bullies was part of growing up. We all need a Scott Farkus in our lives. He had yellow eyes, so help me God, yellow eyes!

you know what is weird? i remember having a playground growing up that had all the metal slides, high places, monkey bars and those merry go round things...and you know what? i went back. All those things are still there at that park, giant metal rocket ship multi-level slide and all. I wonder if it is going to stay there. I kinda hope it does as long as it is well maintain that is. rust is no fun for anyone and the place could really do for a more recent paint job.

We all know it, the new 'standard' equiptment sucks, I mean is it impossible to have one decent slide! I swear, the new ones are only 4 feet tall. No duh, why kids perfer video games, the parks now a days are sooo boring.

people are so overprotective. we had a "dangerous" playground at my elementary school and the worst injury I ever saw there was a woodchip went through a girls wrist. I got more scrapes and cuts from falling on pavement and the woodchips then I ever got harmed on the playground equipment. I've fallen from trees, I have numerous scars from falling on pavement and concrete and the cuts and bruises healed. If my son wants to go climb a tree, I'm going to let him. You have to learn your own limits. and you know what I broke my wrist doing? rollerskating. no one hit me, no one pushed me, i simply lost my balance and my wrist took the impact of the fall. and what did I learn? I need to be a better rollerskater before I go out in a huge crowd.