Mark Maynard
The Independent
ASHLAND —
I read the other day where swing sets were being removed from playgrounds in the Cabell County School District.
What’s next, banning tag? Oh! That’s right. They’ve already done that in some places. As America’s youth continue fighting (losing?) the war on obesity, we keep taking away more and more opportunities to shed some of that weight.
I’m not blaming the school system entirely. They’re doing it for safety reasons because the ever-increasing standards and exposure to insurance claims and lawsuits stemming from swing set injuries are so high.
It’s not that the Cabell County board doesn’t want the children in their system to be fit, it’s just that they don’t want a lawyer knocking on their door when Little Johnny tears the hide off his knee.
Little Johnny’s parents may be part of the problem, too.
In today’s lawsuit-happy world, everybody is looking for the quick fix that will put them somewhere on a beach for the rest of their life.
If you can’t do it the old-fashioned way, by rolling up your sleeves, why not try it the cheap and easy way with a lawsuit? It’s become the American dream.
So now, to avoid the lawsuit pitfall, the swing sets in Huntington have to go.
For how many years have playgrounds had swing sets on them? That was always one of the thrills of going to Central Park’s playground for my kids. They also wanted to go higher, higher and higher! We’d push them until our arms were tired. Then they’d push themselves with their legs (see exercise).
I’m not advocating throwing caution to the wind and, granted, things do happen to children on swing sets. They could fall backwards off the swing and bonk their heads, go flying feet first from a high altitude and crash into a playmate. They could maybe even turn an ankle on a hard landing.
But you know what, they could also get hurt standing around on the playground.
My wife is a longtime elementary teacher and she’d tell you that if you don’t allow that age child to run off some energy, they can become a handful in the classroom. Recess is supposed to be a way for them to release some of that energy. That, in turn, allows the teachers to teach in a more sedated environment.
Taking away swing sets would seem to be the first step to dismantling playgrounds because one can get hurt doing almost anything.
We never worried about playing on swing sets or slides when I was growing up. It was part of the playground package. The bell rang, you went outside and you played and played hard for 20 minutes, then returned to class. That was the drill. Every day.
Now kids are going to be forced to go outside and look at each other I suppose. The energy that was meant to be burned off outside now doesn’t have an outlet. They return to the classroom just as jazzed up as when they left. Ask any teacher how that’s going to work out for them.
In the end, the removal of the swing sets in Cabell County is as much about protecting the school system from lawsuits as it is taking away an activity for children. Tougher safety standards for playground equipment have made it difficult to keep up financially.
Swing set safety standards adhere to “fall protection zones,” which involve the type of ground material used around the swing set and the distance between the swing and the nearest piece of playground equipment.
Many elementary schools use mulch around their swing sets, although national safety standards now call for rubber-based surfaces. Those types of surfaces can cost at least $7,500 per swing set.
In other words, if you keep swinging, it’s going to cost you.
They had a choice: Remove the swing sets or spend a fortune trying to meet national safety standards to stay protected from claims and lawsuits.
In today’s economic climate, they really didn’t have much of a choice.
Too bad it’s come this far.
MARK MAYNARD can be reached at mmaynard@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2648.
