I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s noticed that very few modern playgrounds sport merry-go-rounds anymore. In fact I know I’m not, because I read a post lamenting out of control playground safety over at Free Range Kids that mentioned merry-go-rounds specifically. And then I read a slightly unsettling article about merry-go-rounds and playground safety written by personal injury lawyers.
I think it’s pretty obvious what’s going on. Merry-go-rounds present many, many opportunities for injury. Someone can fall off. Kids try to climb on and off them while they’re still spinning. Someone who’s pushing a merry-go-round can let go or fall, and be trampled by other pushers. If I were building a public playground I might want to steer clear of the potential liability, too.
As a parent I find the vanishing merry-go-rounds kind of disappointing. I loved merry-go-rounds as a kid, they were the most fun. Getting your dad to push you faster than you could imagine, feeling the wind in your hair, hanging on for dear life. I certainly enjoyed them, as I’m sure most of my peers did, and I’m alive to tell the tale. Although I will admit I also rode in cars without a seat belt, and rode bikes without a helmet. I wouldn’t let my own kids do those things, safety measures can (and do) save lives.
Photo courtesy of foreversouls on Flickr
I did a bit of research to see how safe (or unsafe) playgrounds really are. According to Safe Kids Canada most playground injuries result from falls. Each year about 2500 Canadian kids under 14 are hospitalized as a result of playground injuries, 80% of which are for broken bones. Between 1982 and 2008, 18 Canadian children died as a result of playground injuries, 17 of which were caused by strangulation. In fact, strangulation even occurred when a child wearing a bike helmet got his or her head stuck (so much for safety equipment!).
What can we do to reduce playground injuries? A Canadian Medical Association study indicates that efforts to improve the safety of playground equipment have been effective at reducing injuries. BC Children’s Hospital suggests some very basic measures to prevent playground injuries, including wearing rubber-soled shoes and avoiding dangling straps and ties. No mention of merry-go-round avoidance there.
Fun and games, or death trap?
Recently a merry-go-round appeared at a local park. It’s non-traditional, surrounded by nets. Hannah refers to it as a “spinning tree.” And she loves it. If the park is busy there are always older children pushing the thing, so she can climb on and just spin around and around and around. She’ll happily ride the merry-go-round for 30 minutes or more. Which is easy for me since it means I can just stand and watch.
I’m not sure if our new merry-go-round is safer than more traditional models or not. The nets mean that once a kid’s inside, they’re less likely to fall. And there aren’t those metal bars to hit yourself on. But there are other safety concerns, like the fact that kids can hang off the outside, 7 feet off the ground, as the merry-go-round spins. And when kids are on the inside holding on to the ropes, they sometimes have their fingers stepped on by climbers. Plus, children still try to get off and on while it’s spinning, and fall and trample each other while they’re pushing, and I’m sure dangling straps could get caught on the ropes.
But mostly it’s just a lot of fun. And I’m glad it’s there, because the kids all seem to enjoy it and that’s what playgrounds are for. To give kids a place to have fun, test themselves, and play. There’s no way to prevent all injuries, at least no way that involves letting kids be kids. So I say bring on the merry-go-round, and give our little ones a chance to spin ’til they just can’t spin anymore.
I have no idea because I haven’t done the research, but I am sure that more children are injured in minor car accidents every day – while wearing proper seatbelts and safety equipment. The world isn’t a safe place. It never was. I actually don’t one child who has sustained a brain injury or has been killed from riding a bike without a helmet, skating without a helmet or has been seriously injured on a playground. As a kid I was pushed off a climbing structure at the childminding center that used to be in Seven Oaks Mall, and sprained my arm. My injury was caused by another kid playing too rough, not by the equipment that I was playing on.
I am all for keeping my kids safe. But, I just think that sometimes ‘safety’ is like a run away train. The world isn’t a safe place. I am sure children are hurt more often doing regular things in their homes than they are on playgrounds, but again, I haven’t actually done any research to back this up, so I guess I could be completely wrong.
I agree with you though Amber, living on the edge is fun…even if it means tossing your cookies from being spun to the point of puking!
http://freerangekids.wordpress.com/2009/03/16/raw-cookie-dough-death-on-a-spoon/
You talked about baking cookies or cake with Hannah awhile back and how decieded to let her lick the spoon even though he paused to think about the safety aspect of it.
I just saw this post at Free Range Kids and thought of you!
When I see the “spinning tree” I can’t help but think some kid is going to climb to the top and yell to his (or her) friends to spin faster, faster, faster…you know how much hang time you’ll get if you go flying off from that height?
We can wrap our kids in bubble-wrap to keep them perfectly safe, but sometimes skinned knees, bruised elbows and a few tears are part of the fun.
I agree with the Merry-Go-Round, it was a blast. Just look at the smile on her face as she’s spinning faster and faster.
However, as a now Mom hearing about all those injuries, I’m glad it’s gone.
I never really played safe. I remember being on the see saw with my friend and thought it would be fun to slam down quickly on the ground. She wasn’t hanging on tight enough, went flying and banged her face in the middle of the see saw. It wasn’t funny anymore.
Playground equipment certainly is different now. I miss see-saws (until I read the comment above) and the giant climbing structures that must have been splinter magnets, now that I think of it. I do love the spongy flooring that they put in a lot of the new playgrounds though.
The kid at the top is much less likely to lose her grip though — closer to the centre, so less centripetal force. Or…some other force. Would it be one of the perpendicular force vectors affecting that kid? Sorry, my much more mathematical friend, it’s been awhile since OAC Physics.
Still. The kid at the top, while she would fall farther, is less likely to lose her grip in the first place, so the chances of failure are lower although the consequences are higher.
Which is kind of what a lot of kid play is all about, come to think of it; finding your own comfort level as you travel through the zones of risk and reward.