Are we teaching kids that others are responsible for what they do? Sure, we dont want playgrounds so dangerous they regularly cause injury, but, at the same time, is not life about using your freedom and taking individual risks? Untersbergstrae Playground, Munich Germany - Playscapes To me the staying inside was the worst part, but then the next week she would do it again. Since the. Playscapes' friend Lianne sent through this climbing thicket in Munich German as a follow-on to the Florian Aigner post; she says it is at the intersection of Untersbergstrae & Weienseestrae in Munich. Sure, the ground was just dirt, but that was probably safer than concrete. German Insurance Companies Demand Perilous Playgrounds So That Kids Can There's a lot to love about raising kids in the US as opposed to Germany, but I have to say the german Beergarden/Playground combo (which is pretty common actually) beats the US version of sitting on the hot smelly . These photo from the early 1900s showing a bunch of kids playing on sprawling steel pole playground equipment at Pittsburgh Pennsylvanias Mount Washington Park pretty much epitomize the risky business of play just over a hundred years ago. Lots of injuries from falls, and just like the TV shows, if we could walk, the coach would say walk it off. Falls. Here are some girls getting fit at Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx, way back in June 1911. From 1918: Petrus Liljedahl, to whom THE PLAYGROUND is indebted for these pictures of home-made apparatus in use on the Lincoln School playgrounds at St. On this particular one, you entered an oval shaped hole and climed up through the center of the rocket. We also had the rings and tall swing sets (which were fun) from which most boys would compete to see who could launch and fly the farthest. Great compilation! Todays medical personnel would categorize a plunge from the top of this piece of equipment as a major fall.. Many of the items in your list still exist in the UK and Europe! At Adventure Playgrounds the goal is: as safe as necessary not as safe as possible. This an idea that is more conducive to learning. We also learned all about physics while having fun on those playgrounds: inertia, momentum, potential energy, centrifugal force, the effect of gravity on a free body, what happens when two objects collide, the principal that a moving body will tend to continue in a straight line unless some force acts on it, and just how much sand on a hot slippery slide will allow you to go the fastest, etc. Also, FYI, many of the crowded photos of kids sitting astride slides and atop monkey bars are actually group photos. Examples of these rides could be found up through the 1980s. Some may not call that progress but anyone who does probably cant say so without some degree of bias. | Yet, when it comes to playgrounds, the stereotype is misleading: here, its the strict policing of standards that enables a risk-accepting culture in the first place. One influential 2004 study found that children who had improved their motor skills in playgrounds at an early age were less likely to suffer accidents as they got older. | People Playground. You can survive serious burns, doesnt mean theyre safe. I remember playing on the Jungle Gym AND Splinter Delivery System, but both were miles better than todays mania for bubble-wrapping your kids and sticking them in front of a TV. Actually, that was great fun too! Pillows so they can lay there and stare into their phone. See 20 forts built upon branches. ALSO SEE: Remember the fun of an old-fashioned treehouse? An influential German study in 2004 had found that "children who had improved their motor skills in playgrounds at an early age were less likely to suffer accidents as they got older," writes reporter Philip Oltermann in The Guardian. They want kids to grow up "risk competent." These boys and girls arent just flying high like, perilously close to the steel bars at the top of the structure but there are three swings with two kids each. The climax to each days recess was to see who could stay on the longest with 4 or 5 kids spinning it! Do you go outside? Insurance companies in the UK have taken a different approach by refusing to insure playgrounds deemed too 'high-risk' to avoid the cost of paying out on accidents. That's quite the slide. German playgrounds are in international demand. Thus does American childhood remain, for the most part, a mulch-chip, no-slip, primary-colored plastic safe space. Natural selection was alive and well until it began being gradually legislated away in the 1970s. Still like a good swing in my 70s. Due to the danger presented by Giant Strides, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission putthem on the equipment not recommended list [PDF]. Now, perhaps it's up to us to let our kids play with a bit more abandon, and be willing to encourage them to test themselves, even if it means failing and falling. Their results, published in 2018, found that while the occurrence of injuries was quite rare, a 'statistically significant majority of them' took part in a playground where the equipment was fixed and seen as 'safer' vs an adventure playground with more dangerous and wobbly equipment. New German playgrounds are built to be dangerous, forcing children to negotiate perilous obstacles while risking injury if they fall according to a professor of motor development. Just be glad you slipped through the cracks. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. of children's playgrounds throughout western Germany . A Brief History of Playground Design, Part 1. There are about 1,850 public playgrounds in Berlin, a city of nearly four million inhabitants, of which about half a million are under 18. Welcome to the Coronation! New German playgrounds are built to be dangerous, forcing children to negotiate perilous obstacles while risking injury if they fall according to a professor of motor development. Ruined landscapes and the shells of houses, where nature quickly took over, became excitingly dangerous adventure playgrounds, offering materials for improvised weapons and for building camps, secret hiding places for war games, and opportunities for vandalism and looting. Less adventurous riders may stay on until the old cat dies, according to the ad copy. Little girls play with ropes, without parental supervision or padding. Id love to see the 50s-70s offerings, too. Early iterations were often called the Witches Hat. Some adventurous youngsters would even step up on top, logrolling stylebut unlike that famous woodsmans sport, the inevitable spill was farther and the landing was neither soft nor splashy. In my view, it is good that playgrounds are safer now but there are drawbacks to not allowing for the freedom of individual risk-taking. It's important to note that there is no mention of cultural enrichment in this documentary. This won't come as a huge surprise to any toddler parents out there, but falls account for over 75 percent of all playground-related injuries, per the Children's Safety Network. 3.3.2023 5:45 PM, Jacob Sullum Sorry, Ronald, in the words of the immortal Brad Upton, Know what happened to the dumb ones? A child scales the Triitopia climbing tower in Ludwig Lesser Park in Berlins Frohnau district. par | Juil 2, 2022 | handbook of discourse analysis | Juil 2, 2022 | handbook of discourse analysis However, it is very rare to find this natural possibility within a play area. I do think, however, that there is a reason playground safety has evolved over time (although, of course, injuries still happen today). Note: ClickAmericana.com features authentic historical information, and is not intended to represent current best practices on any topic, particularly with regard to health and safety, but also in terms of outdated cultural depictions and social values. german playground dangerous Kids were meant to latch onto one of the lines of rope attached to the spinning wheel-like contraption atop the pole. That's music to an actuaries' earsand also to some parents. However, we had a solution to the problem; us boys would take our shirts off and slide down on our shirts. Way up. Germany is often perceived to be a politically and economically risk-averse nation, where everyday life is regulated by a strict regime of rules and regulations. Looks like they were having a busy day at the Zabriskie Playground in Jersey City, New Jersey back in 1910 or so. At age 85 I still enjoy most of the modern day carnival rides but the swing sets on playgrounds are not comfortable because of the type of seats they have. KIds were definitely stronger and tougher back then. Insurance companies. The idea of the playground as a method for imbuing children with a sense of fair play and good manners originated in Germany where playgrounds were erected in connection to schools. a medical journal wrote of some of the danger: Vintage playhouses & forts: Old-fashioned fun for kids, Antique toys: See what kids played with a long time ago and that people collect now, See what antique school supplies & educational materials were like in the olden days, Rolling hoops used to be the coolest toys around, Wonder horses! Your email address will not be published. Lofty climbing towers are part of trend away from total safety and towards teaching children to navigate difficult situations. 'What the spongy surface playgrounds don't do is teach kids that there is a consequence to falling, and they won't learn anything from it,' said Faulkner. slide 1 to 4 of 37. Well done, and very interesting to read. Thank you, Click Americana, for creating this very interesting page. A few years ago, when her daughter was in elementary school, she says, "The school replaced the standard playground equipment with four long, thick trees with their branches removed, all interconnected with wide ropes and wobbly bridges made of rubber. Covered as much as shorts under dresses do now. Parenting Magazine Warns 'Blond, Cheerful' Families Dangerous, Likely This brings back good and bad memories, grew up in England and then Canada in 50s and 60s. Moreover: With young people spending an increasing amount of time in their own home, the umbrella association of statutory accident insurers in Germany last year called for more playgrounds that teach children to develop "risk competence". Yes, there are fall limits and specifications for surfaces and safety is very important, but encouraging age appropriate risk taking is still an important part of playground provision. A metal maze. Let us look at the Top 15 Dangerous Playgrounds- history in pictures. The playground equipment taught us to be more thoughtful and to think at least one step ahead. Interactive map reveals when you may see SNOW. German playgrounds blighted by dioxin | New Scientist This way of making a giant stride keeps the children far apart, the ropes seldom get tangled and it gives the children a much better swing., A similar version, with a long tree trunk as the center. From my elementary school, which just closed. If scaling the Triitopia looks risky, that is the point: built in 2018, the climbing tower in Berlin-Frohnaus Ludwig Lesser Park is emblematic of a trend that has accelerated in Germany over the last five years. less common: m. m. Kinderspielflche f. They often say with a smile, I dont know how we survived. The heights. These dangerous playgrounds turn kids into fearless adventure seekers and standard pull-up bars. Over 100,000 German translations of English words and phrases. You might even get someone who disagrees with your subject matter and strongly thinks your article should be about all the injuries kids suffered from playing on that old equipment. Risky play is important for child development. His family sued the park district and the slide manufacturer, prompting the city's park district to get rid of such slides. When you are looking out for broken glass and metal, do a quick sweep for other animals that could potentially harm your child. 38 by Czechoslovakia during the . The news comes after a group of accident insurance companies last year called on German town planners, councils and playground to develop structures that help children to cultivate 'risk competence', as many of Germany's kids were spending so much time inside amid the pandemic.

Canadian Made Wool Clothing, Fabulosa Next Day Delivery, Nyse Bell Ringing Schedule, Is George Winston Married, Specialty Bra Shop Springfield Mo, Articles G