No Running Allowed!!

In the pursuit of safety, teeter-totters and swings are disappearing from playgrounds

By Chris Kahn
Education Writer
Posted July 18 2005
Sun Sentinel

Andrea Levin is grateful that Broward County schools care about her daughter's safety. But this year when they posted a sign that demanded "no running" on the playground, it seemed like overkill.

"I realize we want to keep kids from cracking their heads open," said Levin, whose daughter is a Gator Run Elementary fifth grader in Weston. "But there has to be a place where they can get out and run."

Broward's "Rules of the Playground" signs, bought from an equipment catalogue and displayed at all 137 elementary schools in the district, are just one of several steps taken to cut down on injuries and the lawsuits they inspire.

How about swings or those hand-pulled merry-go-rounds?

"Nope. They've got moving parts. Moving parts on equipment is the number one cause of injury on the playgrounds."

Teeter-totters?

"Nope. That's moving too."

Sandboxes?

"Well, I have to be careful about animals" turning them into litter boxes.

Cement crawl tubes?

"Vagrants. The longer they are, the higher possibility that a vagrant could stay in them. We have shorter ones now that are made out of plastic or fiberglass."

"Kids aren't using them the way they're supposed to," said the agency's director, Donna Thompson, who led a national effort to get rid of animal swings two years ago. "I'm pleased that a lot of these are disappearing."


how about we just wrap our kids in bubble wrap before we allow them to leave the house.

Next, people are going to be changing the laws that all children under the age of 15 must wear helmets if they intend to walk due to the risk of head injuries by tripping... it could happen.

are we really starting to become overly protective? Is it even healthy to raise children in a totally sterile environment?

I'm not a parent, so maybe I'm not even qualified to comment on this one however I do remember when I grew up,yes, I fell off the bike, I fell off the playground equipment, but I also learned to be more careful in the future.

Just like with new cars that have so many protection devices in them now, drivers are becoming more careless on the road.

Although I do not like to see anybody become injured, and I do believe utmost in safety, but where do we draw the line?
When is enough to much?