THE BEST PART OF THE SCHOOL DAY IS NOW THE MOST DANGEROUS
Posted by: Alexia Harris on: April 13, 2008
Ring around the rosies,
A pocketful of posies.
Ashes, ashes.
We all fall down!
As a child, I remember watching the clock, waiting for the big hand to land on the 11 and the little hand on the six. I knew that once that happened, it was time for my favorite subject of the day… Recess!
My classmates and I would quickly put on our coats, and anxiously wait to be lead outside to the playground.
All we cared about was who would get first dibs on the swings, or who would be the first one to climb to the top of the monkey bars. The last thing on our minds was whether we would get hurt in the process.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reports about 200,000 children are treated every year in US emergency rooms for playground-related injuries. These injuries account for 15-20 deaths each year. Gasp!
As an adult, everything makes sense to me. But at the time, I was not thinking about the possibility of getting a concussion by sliding down the slide backwards. And this is the case for most children.
Just the other day, my daughter came home from school with a new bruise on her knee. Her incident reports said she fell off the swing. Now, you have to understand that Jaelah is one of the clumsiest kids you’ll ever meet. Taking this into understanding, I wasn’t upset. And bumps, bruises, and scrapes heal.
I mean, you can’t protect children from everything. Parents should understand that. There have been numerous lawsuits where parents have sued for injuries their children have sustained while playing.
In 1988, a boy fell from play equipment, hitting his head on the asphalt. Tyrone went into a coma, and suffered from internal bleeding and brain damage. The boy won a lawsuit that awarded him $14 million. Read the story here)
So, who is really responsible? The parents, the owners of the equipment, or the manufacturers? I guess it would be dependent on the circumstances. Tyrone suffered injuries that will have an effect on the rest of his life. Jaelah’s injury was minor, and is the type of injuries parents should expect their children to get at least once in their lifetime.
I believe that whoever is responsible for the child at the time, whether it’s the parent or someone else, should bear some type of responsibility.
CPSC has listed recommendations that may help limit the number of injuries, including the type of playground surfacing. Tyrone fell on asphalt—which has no shock absorbing properties. If playgrounds followed the recommendations—including not using asphalt, concrete, grass or turf as surfacing—maybe Tyrone would not have suffered such serious injuries.
Kids don’t think about this type of stuff when they want to prove to their friends that they have the coolest swing dismount. But as adults and caregivers, we must think for them. After all, kids will be kids.
9 Responses to "THE BEST PART OF THE SCHOOL DAY IS NOW THE MOST DANGEROUS"
April 24, 2008 at 10:43 am
Accidents can happen anywhere and children are clumsy so in certain situations it is hard to say who is at fault. The fact that Tyrone was playing on equipment that was surrounded by asphalt is shocking to me. I am surprised there weren’t any other accidents reported before his. I am 23 years old and even back when I was in elementary school our equipment was surrounded by the grass and rubber tire chips. It’s strange to me that a school system still today planted a child’s play area in asphalt. But like I said before, children are unpredictable and anything can happen even in the safest situations. I can recall an accident when I was a child involving a friend of mine during a simple game of 4-sqaure. The game does not require a lot of agility or horseplay and yet somehow the ball managed to slip under her feet which caused her to fall an land on her head. She was rushed to the hospital with a minor concussion. Thankfully, everything ended positively in the end and no one was at fault but as a child it was traumatizing to see a close friend that vulnerable and lifeless. Anything can happen but there are certain safety procedures that can and should be followed to make recess safe and enjoyable. Even if a school system lacks the funding, a town should consider a fundraiser for a safer playground. A child’s safety should be worth it.
April 24, 2008 at 11:55 am
I believe that children get hurt, it’s a natural part of growing up and learning. Everybody learns from their accidents and mistakes throughout their life and it helps shape who they are when they get older. When I got injured at the playground my mother never even thought to sue anyone. I believe that yes there should be someone there to watch the children, but parents have to understand that they got hurt as children and that their kids will also. I do not think that a lawsuit is necessary for anything like this.
April 24, 2008 at 12:36 pm
When my little brother was about 5 years old he was in the childrens’ room at our local YMCA. Its a room where the kids can go when their parents are working out. There are things in the room the kids can play with and also exercise on. All this equipment is padded and made to be extra safe for the kids. He loved this room and sometimes his friends would be in there and they would all play. One time, when he was running around, he hit his head on the corner of a table and slit the corner of his eye. He was rushed to the ER and has to receive stitches. I this situation I do not feel as if the YMCA should have been sued, I mean, you cannot control every movement that kids make. My dad was angry that he got hurt but he is a little boy and loves to run around. In these types of situations I don’t feel as if there is anyone to blame, although, if the corner of that table had been padded as much as the other equipment had been, he would not have needed stitches.
April 25, 2008 at 8:57 am
Abby,
I too have never seen a playground surrounded by asphault. This obviously a dangerous setting for children. In this case, I strongly believe that the owners of the playground she be responsible… maybe if there was another type of foundation Tyrone wouldn’t have permanent injuries like he does. But I guess we’ll never know.
April 25, 2008 at 9:01 am
Aliza,
Yes, accidents are a part of growing up, and accidents do happen. But, the playground’s foundation was asphault. The law requires playgrounds to have a certain type of flooring that have “bounce” in it so that when children do fall, their injuries aren’t as serious. Even woods chips aren’t safe.
In situations like this, you have to put yourself in the mother’s shoes: How would you feel if your son or daughter got permanent brain damage from falling of the swing sets? an accident that could have been prevented if there was not asphault or concrete on the ground?
April 25, 2008 at 9:10 am
Amanda,
Glad to hear your brother is OK! Boys will be boys. I have a son so I personally know that they can’t sit still for two seconds. I agree with your father. He had a right to be anger; I mean, his son had to be taken to the ER for goodness sakes. But just like he got hurt on the table’s corner, he could have easily sustained the same injury on the coffee table at home.
But seeing that the table was in a children’s play room, it should have been a little more secured. Like you said, the table should have been padded or completely removed from the room. The YMCA obviously knew the potential dangers of the sharp edges on the equipment, so they should have taken the same precautions as they did for the other machines.
May 1, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Alexia,
Where I grew up in New Jersey, my school and schools around mine had playgrounds built on asphalt. It wasn’t until ac few after I left the school that they changed them. I fell all the time and hurt myself and I’m fine today. Yes, some people are unlucky and get more serious injuries than others, but it still is part of being a kid. I think it is ridiculous that everything is padded nowadays. One of these days people are going to go to such extremes to protect their children from being hurt that they will take all the fun out of their childhood. I’m sorry that Tyrone was hurt, but the person who owns the playground should not have been sued.
December 22, 2008 at 1:56 pm
I have been a Kindergarten teacher for over 18 yrs, and even though children ARE supervised, they still get hurt, especially the VERY active children. We have a parent suing us now over an accident that happened at recess. The child fell off a slide, however, 5 adults were watching. He did it himself and has NO long term injuries. I feel people will stop at nothing to get their hands on the big bucks and lawyers are disgustingly greedy. FOR SHAME!! Taxpayers shoulds not have to pay for bogus claims
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April 22, 2008 at 6:59 pm
It’s scary to think that there is a blurry line when responsibility comes in to play. It reminds me of a story I wrote about a child who was raped on a school vehicle. The school was not held responsible in this case. It’s good to know that Tyrone won his lawsuit because I also agree that the party who is supervising at the time should be held responsible in situations like these.