[blparent] park safety

[Jennifer Jackson]

I wanted to share this article from the Free-range parenting site. I think
it is relevant to our discussion about keeping up with our little ones at
parks. We all want to do the best and most safe thing, but sometimes what
that is turns out to be less than clear.

 

 

Jennifer

 

 

 


Wow, Who Knew?
<http://www.freerangekids.com/wow-who-knew-kids-should-go-down-slides-on-the
ir-own/>  Kids Should Go Down Slides ON THEIR OWN!


Posted on April 26th, 2012 by lskenazy 

Hi Readers - and thank you for sending this story,
<http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/23/a-surprising-risk-for-toddlers-at-
playground-slides/> "A Surprising Risk for Toddlers on Playground Slides,"
that was in yesterday's New York Times. And what exactly IS the surprising
risk?

Parents! Extremely loving, extremely cautious parents who, rather than
letting their kids navigate the slide on their own, put them on their lap
and let gravity do its thing. The problem is: The thing gravity is doing is
breaking their childrens' legs.

Yes, "helping" the kids actually makes the slide experience less safe. Kids
are getting their legs stuck and twisted and even broken, because (sez the
story) "If a foot gets caught while the child is sliding alone, he can just
stop moving or twist around until it comes free. But when a child is sitting
in an adult lap, the force of the adult's weight behind him ends up breaking
his leg."

Now, I am of at least two, possibly even three-point-five minds about this
story. First off, of course, I am a little smug about the news that
helicoptering doesn't help kids. The fact that kids have been going down
slides alone since Danny
<http://www.amazon.com/Danny-Dinosaur-Syd-Hoff/dp/0064440028/ref=sr_1_1?s=bo
oks&ie=UTF8&qid=1335389791&sr=1-1>  slid down his Dinosaur should have been
evidence enough that modest inclines and moppets are a good mix.  But we
live in a culture that loves to demand ever more involvement on the part of
parents, so a lot of folks got the idea that GOOD moms and dads are the ones
who put down the Starbucks and go, "Wheeeee!" with perhaps more enthusiasm
than they feel. Now they are off the hook.

ON THE OTHER HAND (we are now onto Mind #2), this article also makes it seem
as if the parent/kid playground combo is the slippery slope to hell, and
that slides are even MORE dangerous than anybody had ever imagined. And
considering we have already imagined them as SO dangerous that regulations
require them to be no taller than the average mound of laundry (or is that
just at my house?), this is another blow to playground fun.

And here's Mind #3: The fact that this issue merited an entire article in
the hard copy of the New York Times - space that is disappearing faster than
Happy Meal fries  - is just another example of our obsession with every
little thing that has to do with parenting. As if  every hour of time with
them is fraught with the potential for developmental leaps or horrifying
danger. When really what we're talking about is an afternoon at the
playground.

And now for the .5: One point the article made is that, "The damage is not
merely physical. 'The parents are always crushed that they broke their kid's
leg and are baffled as to why nobody ever told them this could happen,' Dr.
Holt said. 'Sometimes one parent is angry at the other parent because that
parent caused the child's fracture. It has some real consequences to
families.'"

In a nutshell (and I do mean nut) here are my final thoughts:

1 - Parents are BAFFLED that NOBODY EVER TOLD THEM every single thing that
could possibly go wrong in any situation?  That's one reason why we are so
litigious: We expect every activity to be perfect every time, and if it's
not, we are so angry we want to blame someone (else). Not fate. Someone.

2 - While I can totally see being mad at the parent who broke my kid's leg,
I can also see moving on. Getting over it. Realizing it could have been ME.
Lasting consequences seems a bit dramatic for an injury that, the article
says, the children recover from in 4 to 6 weeks, without "lasting
complications." (Except, of course, for the divorce.)

3 - And, in defense of the article and the author, whose work I like, maybe
the piece actually did perform a public service. Hoopla aside, now you know:
Let your kid go solo down the slide.

I think I'm done. Feel free to take up where I left off. - L.

 
<http://freerangekids.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/slide-with-alligator-no-ri
tes.jpg> 

Okay, maybe this slide IS a little dicey, with or without a parent. 

Filed under:
<http://www.freerangekids.com/category/parks-playing-and-playgrounds/> 

 

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