TheAgitator.com
In Which John Banzhaf’s Head Asplodes
Tuesday, May 9th, 2006Any wonder why kids are fat?
Is there real danger on the modern playground?Safety advocates say yes and want to eliminate it.
Their first target: swing sets.
They’ve convinced Portland Public Schools to remove all swings from elementary schools playgrounds.
[...]
Portland Public Schools have also rejected merry go rounds, tube slides, track rides, arch climbers, and teeter totters.
At Grant Park in Northeast Portland, some parents embrace a new plastic enclosed play area, noting that the construction of the play equipment does not have sharp corners, and soft surfaces are used in many areas.
[...]
Now, it seems, anything with moving parts is a lawsuit liability, and in some places, that even means moving legs.
In Broward County, Florida, there’s a new rule on the playground: no running.
A parent there commented that “no running on the playground, that’s kind of like no playing on the playground” and another called for a review of what exactly was “safe” or unsafe.
So what can kids still play?
Not dodge ball or tether ball, that’s still too dangerous. And in Beaverton, at Barnes Elementary School, rules there forbid the game of tag.
In Salem, an elementary education director says “we don’t encourage the game of tag because it encourages fights.”
My favorite part of the story comes when dueling public health activists start jabbing one another with scary statistics:
One child psychologist points to the rising trend of childhood obesity in defense of letting kids play like kids.National statistics indicate 34 percent of kids are overweight, with obesity projected to be nearly 50 percent in the year 2010.
But safety advocates point to different numbers, saying playground accidents cause 200,000 injuries nationwide each year, and 17 deaths.
What’s a good Nanny Statist to do?
