The following note was passed along to us by a dad whose kids attend a public school in Texas. It says (emphasis mine):
Parents we need your help in keeping our children safe at the playground after hours and on the weekends.
It is important that children are supervised at all times.
We have had reports of children climbing on the outside of the play equipment which isĀ really unsafe. Some children are trying to sit on top of the big slide.Ā This is completely unacceptable behavior.
We are reminding our children again today the same playground expectations apply in the afternoon, evening, and on weekends.Ā They need to play safely and follow the expectations so theyĀ do not get hurt. If you are at the playground and notice unsafe behavior please remind them to play safely. Thank you for your help.
Signed, the Overlords of Overprotection ā Well, not really. I suppose it was signed by the principal or superintendent. But as our secret source asks:
Did these people not climb trees as kids? I grew up in the ā80s and ā90s and loved climbing trees. Kids want to climb on stuff. We are primates!
Ah, but now we are primates with law degrees and an overactive sense of doom.
āDo not get hurt.ā āPlay safely.ā āKeep our children safe.ā āUnsafe behavior.ā āReally unsafe.ā In just 119 words, the school manages to use the word āsafeā five times, suggesting the playground is a hellscape of danger. As hellscapes require an ever-present boo-boo squad, thatās what parents are requested to become.
So ā two thoughts.
No. 1: This is why I try not to blame āhelicopter parentsā for hovering. They live in a culture that sees a climb up the slide as Free Solo 2. This kind of LSD-level distortion is reinforced through propaganda like this school note. It simultaneously inflates the possibility of danger AND turns the job of parent into something new and all-encompassing. In 2024 America, your child is unsafe anytime their heinie hits the mulch chips, so you must be with them lest that horror occur. Have a nice life! Bring snacks! And if youāre not there, the school will receive āreports.ā
No. 2: Thereās an alternative to outdoor play that does not require a parent giving up all their free time. In this alternate world, kids can hang out with friends, talk, joke, climb, slide, ride and play to their heartsā content. Heck, they can fly, and turn into dragons and meet real people from across the world. And it fits in their pocket! Every minute they are prohibited from playing in the real world is another minute they can be on a screen. If kidsā real-world playtime is limited to parentsā real-world free time, phones become their default playground.
And itās default (ha, ha) of policies like this.
Obviously, the school is worried about risk and lawsuits. And yet, it was just last week that polite, careful CANADA woke up from its own safety coma. After years of things like decommissioning beloved toboggan hills, requiring helmets on the playground and investigating parents who let their kids under-age-12 walk around unsupervised, the Canadian Paediatric Society announced that, actually, kids NEED ārisky play.ā
Why? Because their mental and physical health has been plummeting all the years theyāve been getting āsafer.ā
If a culture is trying to err on the side of safety, it cannot ignore the downside of prohibiting kids from playing at the local playground without a security detail.
ā
COPYRIGHT 2024 CREATORS.COM
Image credit: Pexels