Let Grow - Restoring childhood resilience by fighting the urge to overprotect

British Playgrounds: They’re bringing Risky Back

vintage monkey bars

A no-risk childhood presents a risk in and of itself: That kids will  not develop the bounce that comes from enduring some bumps -- literal and figurative -- along the way.

Which, by the way, is precisely the concern of Let Grow. And so, writes Ellen Barry on the front page of Sunday's New York Times:

SHOEBURYNESS, England — Educators in Britain, after decades spent in a collective effort to minimize risk, are now, cautiously, getting into the business of providing it.

Four years ago, for instance, teachers at the Richmond Avenue Primary and Nursery School looked critically around their campus and set about, as one of them put it, “bringing in risk.”

Out went the plastic playhouses and in came the dicey stuff: stacks of two-by-fours, crates and loose bricks. The schoolyard got a mud pit, a tire swing, log stumps and workbenches with hammers and saws.

“We thought, how can we bring that element of risk into your everyday environment?” said Leah Morris, who manages the early years program at the school in Shoeburyness in southeast Britain. “We were looking at, O.K., so we’ve got a sand pit, what can we add to the sand pit to make it more risky?”

Now, Ms. Morris says proudly, “we have fires, we use knives, saws, different tools,” all used under adult supervision. Indoors, scissors abound, and so do sharp-edged tape dispensers (“they normally only cut themselves once,” she says).

(Ironically, I have cut myself far more than once on a tape dispenser, even as recently as last Friday, but let's not quibble.)

Let's celebrate the recognition that some playgrounds have become so dull that they offer all the excitement of eating applesauce. But what I do find a bit vexing is that, at least in this story, adults embrace only the "risk" that they pre-approve:

Outside the Princess Diana Playground in Kensington Gardens in London, which attracts more than a million visitors a year, a placard informs parents that risks have been “intentionally provided, so that your child can develop an appreciation of risk in a controlled play environment rather than taking similar risks in an uncontrolled and unregulated wider world.”

Geez Louise! Isn't the whole idea that we WANT kids to get used to the "unregulated" wider world? Is there no "uncontrolled" risk that we're willing to let kids experience? A tree they could climb that is not pre-approved? A half-rotted plank they could tread?

Sounds to me like the authorities are tied up in knots: They want risk and yet, having spent so long obsessing about things like how deep the mulch must be under the swing set, they still MUST control  everything kids encounter. Maybe this is just the intermediate step between overdosing on safety and letting kids play outside again. Let's hope.

But in the meantime, remember: The outside world is no dicier than when we were growing up. That means there's no need to make everything  perfect, even "risk." - L.

Reader Interactions

Discussion

COMMENTS 36

  1. A lot of commenters on the story are with you. The school built a playground, which must’ve included removing a lot of bushes and trees, and then brought in spiky gorse-bushes so the kids would risk pricking themselves!
    It’s a step in the right direction, to train parents not to freak out at the sight of a kid holding a hammer or a brick. But it is definitely funny how much thought and engineering went into it.

    • Having risk on a smaller scale might make it easier if trouble should arise. And plus by the time they are part the adult world these things will seem like no big deal which is the way it should be.

  2. Another thing–does anyone else think that ripping out the current playground equipment, because it’s “too safe,” after ripping out the previous generation of playground equipment, because it was “too dangerous,” is massively wasteful? Why not start with keeping the existing equipment (and bringing in some boards, hammers, nails, ropes, tires, et cetera, for “loose parts” play if desired), and just, giving kids more freedom in how they play? For example, right now, a lot of schools have rules against climbing up slides, hanging upside down from the monkey bars, sitting on top of the monkey bars, running on the playground equipment and/or in certain areas, doing cartwheels and handstands on the grass, et cetera. If those rules were reversed, even that would be a start.

  4. Personally I think an injury that doesn’t need a doctor probably doesn’t need fusssing. I still remember when I broke my ankle the doctor asked why I didn’t come in yesterday when I broke it. I thought it was just a sprain! Not worth a fuss! I went the next day when it didn’t get better.

    • Ehh, that’s one thing I’m glad that has changed. It’s not a bad thing to get medical care.

      My aunt (born in 1950) was telling me the other day how she broke her pinky finger playing volleyball in 8th grade and her parents didn’t take her to the doctor or hospital or anything. “Oh, it’ll be fine, it’s just a pinky.” She revealed how her crooked pinky hindered her as a secretary because she can’t type with it. She figured out a workaround, but that could have been completely avoided if she had proper health care.

      • Right if I had thought it broke the first day then I would have gone the first day but sprains aren’t a big deal. Certainly not worth a doctor’s time.

        • Hell… TODAY’S super-panicky parents have doctors drop everything just to put antibiotic ointment on their children’s scuff-marks!!!

  5. I’m beginning to think that the lack of risk in early childhood is what is leading teenagers to take ridiculous risks once they are older i.e. eating laundry soap. Without the idea of a little pain, they have no concept of big pain and thus are stepping farther and farther out of line.

    • That soap thing falls in the category of what were you thinking that is so stupid I can’t even begin to describe how stupid.
      I can’t figure out why anyone would do anything that dumb.

    • Actually, I’ve had this pet theory for years…

      Back when I was a kid–and dinosaurs ruled the earth–skateboards were small and standing on them while moving was an accomplishment. If you could manage to slalom down the hill and not fall off, you were “cool.” I managed it (patting myself on the back, here) but other kids couldn’t. They fell off and hurt themselves.

      “Oh my God! Skateboards are killing our kids! Something has to be done!”

      The skateboard industry got together, under the threat of lawsuits, and gone were the small skateboards. Now they made these giant things that you couldn’t fall off. Anybody could manage a trip down the hill.

      Of course, where’s the excitement in that? So kids started with the tricks and half-pipes and crazy things like that. And kids got worse injuries than they did when they were just trying to glide down the hill and avoid people.

      Of course, these things come full circle. A year or so ago, I was in the local convenience store and there was a girl in there with a small skateboard–maybe a little longer than the one I had when I was a kid.

      • WOW! Somebody actually let a little GIRL ride something with tiny wheels on it!!!

    • That makes so much sense! And the Cinnamon Challenge and the whatever it is when they *set themselves on fire* then jump into the shower. And the Hanging game, shudder.

      • The list of stupid things that are so stupid you think what were you thinking that was so stupid I can’t tell you how stupid. I wish they would quit adding to the list.

        • Stupid is as stupid does as stupid thinks as stupid knows as stupid IS!!! How stupid is THAT!?!?!

    • I know I am banging head against the wall, but current teenagers dont die more from absurd risk taking then previous generations. Really, it is just news making us feel like they kill themselves more.

      • Aren’t there less good chance of death risk taking moves the crazy kids could take. Go Mountain biking ,go cave exploring, take a wilderness hike risky but less chance of death.

    • Eating soap is a way to fend off boredom.

      Self-harm is commonly associated with a person cutting themselves. Eating soap is not anywhere near as harmful. However, I think there is something parallel in it.They both have a disregard for their own well-being. The ‘Jackass’ is another phenomenon. On a scale of one to ten where self-cutting would be a ten and eating soap would be a one, I’d consider the Jackass movies (7 of them 2002 – 2014) would be a five.

      • Soap pods are highly toxic. If it was plain old soap it would be different.

  6. My daughters school just got a brand new park, my daughter asked to be pushed on the swings. I was pushing her as hard as I could and she wasn’t going anywhere. That is when I realized the swings were designed to only go to a certain height. My 4 year old burst into tears and said they were the stupidest swings ever. I agree with her.

    • The way things are going right now, we will be making sure our defenseless little darlings never take a bite of crunchy bread for fear of them chipping a tooth!!!!

  7. It does seem a little oxymoronic to plan risky playgrounds, but I’m relieved this is finally happening somewhere! Playgrounds built in the last 20ish years have been sterile and devoid of imagination. Kids get so bored in them so quickly because there’s a short maximum limit of fun.

    Kids need places that they can transform into their own and aren’t just provided by adults. As a kid, my next door neighbors’ yard backed up to some woods, so we built our own bike course in the woods, complete with jumps and all. You better believe there was risk! It was definitely not perfect, but it was ours.

    When I was 13 and my brother was 18, we built a treehouse in our backyard. We gathered and collected wood and other scraps for it and put it together ourselves. It was so much more satisfying to do that than it was to have our parents buy us a playground set that included one!

    • I love knowing that your 18-yr-old brother was on board with building a treehouse. That is so awesome. I think we forget that play is something is healthy for us to do OUR WHOLE LIVES.

      • All work, no play, makes EVERYONE antsy. Sometimes, even as parents, we just need to say “fk it!”. Scuttle the kids to relatives for a weekend. And enjoy a couple of days with the wife. Does wonders. And kids are happy too. Such was the way I grew up, so it’s the way my kids are growing up.

    • Kids in my day, went into the woods behind our houses to build treehouses/forts. We also rode around the neighborhood on our bikes (no helmets). We all gathered at a local playground to play, even with kids we didn’t know. Who, some, ended up being new friends. All without any adult supervision. The only adult supervision we got was instructions.

      1. Don’t get into trouble, or your going to get into more trouble when you get home. That worked 90% of the time.
      2. Be home before dark. Dinner will be ready by then.
      3. The older kids ALWAYS had to watch out for the smaller siblings. See #1.

      And we were all between the ages of 7-11. Oh, those were the days. And yes, it was a much different time. Crime rate was much higher back then. And the safety “protocols” we have now, was pretty much non-existent. But yet, children thrived immensely. Go figure. Don’t break what isn’t broken, to TRY and make something “better” from it. I always say. Improve upon it. But don’t change it entirely.

    • Although I get the feeling of engineered/simulated risk and suspect increased rules and supervision for this experiment. It has to be better than the existing extremely safe and terribly boring plastic junk.

  8. I’m so glad they’re seeing the value of risk that I hesitate to criticize them for adding it so clinically. But I agree there is something highly inorganic and unreal about it. But maybe this is the needed step back towards playgrounds that were built for play and risks without anyone thinking either way about whether it was either too risky or not risky enough.

    I’ve heard the playgrounds in Norway are really gnarly!

  9. My issue with this idea is the intentional introduction of risk, rather than allowing things with INHERENT risk. There is a difference! It’s the difference between asking your child to cut up a tomato and asking them to juggle knives. The tomato is a way of helping the family and learning meal preparation, while the knife juggling is risk for the sake of risk. Sending them out sans a bike helmet just to see if their skull will smash if they fall, versus letting them ride some crazy-difficult ramps for the thrill of it and new ways to stretch themselves and try new things. Why would you kill perfectly good trees and bushes just to put in something worse? You can get plenty scratched up climbing an oak tree, but the point isn’t to get scratched, but to enjoy the thrill of going higher and moving yourself upward; scratches might occur in the process.

    • But without understanding risk, one doesn’t understand if risk is inherent. Therefore, by introducing risk, we allow children to learn what risk is and how to manage it.

      For example, teenagers try to eat Tide Pods because they’re stupid and don’t know the risks. (The information I’ve found indicates 2 very young children in 5 years died – not exactly an epidemic.) If their parents had washed their mouths out with soap when they were younger, those kids would have a better understanding of risk, and thereby know that eating a Pod is idiotic.

  10. My definition of risk is something different. I feel like the word lost all meaning.

  11. I’ve heard that the military already studied the effects of reducing or removing hazards during training. What they apparently concluded was that troops who were at least risk in training were more likely to put themselves in unnecessary danger in combat.

  12. Children are supposed to and meant to start getting used to ALL of the things they WILL go through when they are adults. The sooner the better for them. It’s how it’s always been for thousands of years. Don’t get why in this day and age, some parents just don’t get that. You raise children to be the person they’re supposed to be, not what you want them to be. Which is why we see so much more weak children. Physically, mentally and emotionally. What also doesn’t help, is that parents with this mentality, are also compounding the problem when they let the internet and mobile devices raise their children as well. It all boils down to the insecurities and fears of the parents. They need to get over that, because it directly affects their children.

  13. Lenore, Thanks for sharing this with your readers! So happy to see the reach of the article and how many people are talking about the importance of risk and play! I hope this encourages parents/schools/cities to continue the conversation, let go a little, and give kids the space to grow into the adults we know they can be 🙂

  14. Photo of the Jungle Jim could be from my elementary school playground (1958-1964). It could only be confirmed if the asphalt it sat on was visible.