conuly

Over at FRK they're talking about swings in playgrounds

2011-10-08T06:57:27Z

Or the lack thereof.

Now, every time it comes up about people not having this type of playground equipment or that type of playground equipment in their area, it's all "oh, oh, oversafety".

And I have no doubt that misguided safety concerns lead to the boringification of many playgrounds. (REALLY misguided safety concerns. If you make the playground "safe", kids just play less safely, resulting in a net loss of, well, safety.)

But this specific person complained that playgrounds in preschools near her were cramped and small... and also, lacked swings. If they're small and cramped, they probably don't have room for swings. Swings require a lot of space, and only a few children can use them at any one time. If you're short on space, better to use something that many children can play on at once, and that allows for greater scope in play.

Especially in a preschool, where having swings means you need people to help the children on the swings.

At any rate, the conversation revealed something interesting. I mentioned, after several comments about kids running in front of swings and getting bonked in the head, that I thought that sounded just weird. Don't all swingsets in playgrounds have fences around them to prevent this from happening?

Apparently not, and many people said they'd never seen such a thing. Which strikes me, like I said, as weird. It's the norm, possibly even the law for NYC playgrounds! What's it like where you are?

Also on that blog is this link on lunchtime notes. Now, it's always amused me that whenever it's something that the person in question did as a kid or does with their kids it's quite all right, but when it's something Those Other Folks do it's a sign of the apocalypse.

And this can go both ways. Class birthday parties are anti-free range and spoiling children because GOD, can't kids go on in the school day without that silliness? Not having class birthday parties is anti-free range and cruel to children because GOD, did it ever hurt any of us? Leashes are cruel and restrictive. Hand-holding is cruel and restrictive. Teaching your kid to stand by your side is cruel and restrictive. Letting your child run around is cruel to everybody else and stupid. And don't get me started on Santa.

No, no matter what position you commonly take in whatever broader argument you're currently fighting, any individual child-raising practice can be neatly slotted in on your side or theirs, and extolled or demonized as you see fit.

In this case, notes in lunchboxes (except very rarely) are hovering and helicopterish.

Now, I agree, that the pre-printed notes mentioned are sappy and dumb. It's a lunchbox note, not an affirmation. Sending in a note saying "I love you unconditionally" is a good way to get your kid teased, and sending in a note saying that that you purchased ready-made is a good way to confuse your child. "Dad loves me, but not enough to write four words on a piece of paper?"

But I don't think that writing a note, even daily, is going to warp your child's individuality. I mean, it's not like they're bringing their kids home every day for an hour-long lunch with Mom, a newfangled idea that my mother grew up with. Oh. Wait. Right! Lunchbox notes are hovering and unprecedented, but much greater parental involvement at lunch in the past goes unmentioned, probably because it doesn't fit in with this image.

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Now, I found that blog in the comments to the article on playground safety

2011-07-22T22:58:37Z

Sometimes, when I read articles on "modern playgrounds" or the comments to them, I wonder if these people and I frequent the same playgrounds, I must admit.

For example, one common complaint in the comments is "Waaa, what happened to all the merry-go-rounds???" but the only merry-go-round* I ever saw as a child was in Belgium. Now that I'm a grown-up, I know of several playgrounds with merry-go-rounds (in three different styles! the custom-made bike merry-go-round in Battery Park City, one without handles that's tilted and that has plenty of free space underneath so children can't get trapped, and one that you jump and hang from), but I never saw them as a kid.

Or people complain about having fewer swings or see-saws, and while I see the point (especially when it comes to see-saws, which were my favorite as a child), I sometimes think that the problem isn't safety concerns (or not JUST safety concerns) but a different philosophy altogether for playgrounds, less free-standing equipment with ONE USE ONLY and more connected equipment that can be used in different ways, that lends itself to more imaginative play, and that allows more children to play on it at once. (And in the article I posted before, there was one comment whining that that equipment is "fun, but you can't follow your toddler around and it's not safe!" Well, dude, go to a toddler-geared playground and sit down on the bench!)

It's also worth noting that right now, lots of people are complaining that playgrounds are too safe, which means that in some areas, newer playgrounds are being built to be more dangerous-looking (if not actually more dangerous) because of that complaint, so of course, you can't just look at your local playground to see what the trend is. I think we're at the swing of the pendulum, actually.

That said, we went to this playground Thursday. She's right, there's nowhere near enough shade. Most of the playground wasn't being used because it was so hot!

However, this playground is a perfect example of new equipment that's as stretching as old. This one had what I think of "new-style" equipment - very ropes-focused and curvy. (I call this new, but what my mother calls new is the stuff that was common when I was young, wooden blocks with bars attached. And there's all the mostly-metal structures with lots of bridges that comes between my mother's new and my new. That's still current, of course.) And whatever people say about "jungle gyms are too small now", the spider-web style jungle gym was probably at least nine feet high. And the design of it means, I suspect, that it's more of a challenge to climb than the old-style all metal ones. Plus, it doesn't heat up so much in the sun, which is an advantage when the designers are too dumb to put in shade.

You can just see the "spider-web" in the back of this photo. It's the blue thing. The monkeybars are more visible in the front - if they're like the similar ones at Union Square, they turn slightly from side to side as you use them.

(A word on the sprinklers in that playground. They were made by this company that uses poles with hidden sensors to turn them on. You have to rub your hand over the flat part until it decides to work. There are no labels, of course. It's a stupid design, made stupider by the fact that they also include a pump that, as near as I can tell, either does nothing or was broken. Because I was the only one who knew how to turn on the sprinklers, I was the only one who had to keep getting up to do it.)

*To me, merry-go-rounds are the ones that are child-propelled. If they have horses and music and you pay to ride them, they're carousels. But I'm aware some people call carousels merry-go-rounds.

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Here's an article on safety and playgrounds

2011-07-20T03:21:40Z

Clicky!

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It's through the comments that I found this site, which I think is worth browsing. I especially like the pictures of the snail, and the long rickety slide.

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A whole bunch of articles and editorials

2010-03-27T17:41:09Z

A Military Downgrading of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’

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In Subway Ads on Abortion, a Pretense of Neutrality

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Playtime Is Over

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Playground’s Jail Theme Is Gone, but Perplexity Lingers

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Legal-Marijuana Advocates Focus on a New Green

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The Obama Seder Tradition

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And a few longer articles

2009-05-03T19:13:54Z

One older one about an adventure-y playground on 116th street

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Another older one on accessible playgrounds

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A depressing one on modern kindergarten

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One on increased class size in NYC

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One on waiting lists for kindergarten. This isn't, despite the article, just limited to Manhattan - and remember that when time comes to go to first grade, the seats *first* go to those who are already in kindergarten in the same school.

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