When I was a kid, I remember watching my friend’s dad roughly take the trapeze bar off their swing set.
Earlier in the week the newspaper reported a girl our age had been playing on a trapeze bar, fell and broke her neck. The trapeze bar was then banned in our neighborhood. We weren’t allowed to have them, play on them – they were too dangerous.
Even though the trapeze bar was banned, we sill played on some crazy playground equipment.
Wasn’t the point of the merry-go-round to spin it as hard as you could to see how many bodies went flying off?
Wasn’t it more fun to play the same game while everyone was standing?
The teeter totters were fun to go up and down, for sure.
But when that got boring wasn’t it more fun to walk across them trying to keep your balance as you went up to down?
And did the trapeze bar really go away? Couldn’t you do some pretty sweet flip moves on the monkey bars?
There was no mulch, or springy bottom below our equipment. Just some nice grass. Or concrete. Didn’t matter!
When I was a kid, I knew how to have fun on the playground. When I mastered one piece, I found a way to make it more challenging.
As a PARENT now, I would say I found a way to make it more dangerous.
Now I am super aware of the playground equipment my kids play on. Metal merry-go-rounds? The teeter totters made of wood with the wrought iron handles?
I kid you not, there is a playground near us that still boasts a gigantic metal slide with all its metal edges. I’ve looked at that thing with a “Nopity, nope, nope!” For years.
I thought about all of this after I read this article about kids falling out of their desks at school.
At first, I laughed. The idea sounded so bizarre. So, kids are just sliding out of their chairs and falling to the ground?
Apparently! One teacher took a tally and found in one week the kids in her classroom fell out of their chairs 44 times!
What is happening?
It seems kids are not getting the necessary movement to their developing bodies for balance and coordination. For a couple of reasons:
1. Kids are leading more sedentary lifestyles from hours of sitting at school then home to computers, video games, etc.
2. Us adults are so afraid of our kids getting hurt we keep their scary play to a minimal. And we’re changing the equipment they play on to keep danger to a minimal.
The article describes a study where American fifth-grade students were tested to see how their balance and core strength compared to an average American fifth-grader from 1984. It was found that only one in every 12 children could meet the 1984 standard in both measures.
Blowing on my knuckles I think, “That’s right – I set the standard!”
Weaker muscles, less activity or parent approved activity is apparently leading to kids falling out of their chairs at school.
You don’t see a metal swing set in everyone’s back yard anymore. You don’t see metal merry-go-rounds too often. Or wood teeter totters.
When I look back and see all the change in safety. Car seats, seat belts, bike helmets – changes to playground equipment! I always think some awful accident happened to bring around these changes aimed to keep us safer. Kind of like my friends dad removing that trapeze bar from the swing set.
And safety is good! I like the new safer playgrounds! But in my attempts to protect my kids from danger, am I helping them?
I’m certainly not advocating for my kids to ride bikes without helmets, or drive in cars without a seat belt.
And I am pretty sure they’re getting enough of the right physical activity that they aren’t falling out of their chairs at school.
But the article made me realize one thing. There are a lot of differences in my play as a kid to theirs, that’s for sure.
Last weekend our 4 year old Grandson came to visit.I took him to the barn and he had a ride on the barn managers little pony. I led him as he has never been on a pony before. We would go to one side of the arena and he had to lean over and touch the wall then we went to the other side and he leaned the other way and touched the wall. Also we did an exercise called “round the world” This is where the child has to swing their legs one by one so they are sitting facing backwards and then round again so they are sitting forward. Its hard to describe but it builds confidence and balance. He was very brave about it and did very well. So I hope he won’t be falling of his chair at school!
Sounds like a lot of fun! Good work on balance there! I don’t think he’ll be falling out of his chair at all.
Very interesting. I checked your page and saw no mention of equine therapy programs. Are you involved in those?
We are not – to be honest I don’t know of any near me and haven’t thought to pursue it.
5th grade is that 10 year olds. It’s confusing I think it’s Year 6 here. This took me back. Death trap spinning spiderwebs, nasa super force inducing teapot lid roundabout, catapult like seesaws, metal chain swings with concrete underneath. A slide with broken glass at the end of the runway. Yet never a scratch. I broke my arm twice in our garden stood on a stool. I wouldn’t let son within a mile of that playground now. But as a parent you sometimes have to let kids be kids and get a few bumps. Having said that I’m way too overprotective. I’m not surprised about the impact of over protection.
Yes that is 10 here. I read that article and did the same – I thought of all the crazy stuff I did and all the danger that was around me that I was oblivious to. Crazy! I wouldn’t let me kids near half that stuff anymore either. I never thought of the down side of protection – just that I was keeping them safe. But yeah, looks like there is an impact. Thankfully they’re falling out of their chairs (I think 🙂 )
Wow! Interesting article. I know that when my girls were little I was forever encouraging outside play. The same with Ben. I’m forever trying to get him down from some high place.
I’ve never really thought of that play in a developmental way. I guess I did *something * right😉
It does make sense though. Kids need to run around in fresh air and sunshine. I keep thinking of Wall-E…people that can’t walk (a little different because spaceship, I know) that’s where technology is taking us if we’re not careful.
Thanks Robyn! Great find & share😘
I know! Someone posted it on FB and I finally got around to reading it. I also thought it was interesting as there were OT’s talking about the intense proprioceptive and vestibular input that they encourage in therapy but that we deny day to day because of fear.
I thought of Wall-E too 🙂 When I saw the invention of Segway’s – I thought, “Ok, that’s it.” We’re done for! 🙂
Thanks! I agree – outdoor, exploratory play all the way 🙂
I can’t get the picture of kids flying of a merry go round out of my head and it’s making me laugh 😂 seriously though I was only thinking the other day about the stupid things I did on playground equipment as a child. I could have killed myself!
That is a funny image! Now you have me thinking of kids flying off in every direction and giggling 🙂 I agree! When I thought about it – well, wow! I did some crazy stuff and only walked away with some scrapes and bruises maybe. Crazy!
I wrote a blog post that I never published discussing how different child raising is now, compared to when I was a child back in the 1970s. My parents sent us outside and didn’t want to be bothered except for meals or a real medical emergency. They didn’t really provide activities, we were expected to come up with our own. They didn’t worry about where we were, they laid down parameters (no farther than “x” blocks) and expected us to comply. We had plenty of opportunities to use our imagination, practice using our own judgment (lots of “oops” moments!) and develop our own self-efficacy. I wonder if some of the mental health issues younger people face now aren’t brought on by “safer” and more “planned” childhoods. I am no expert and I didn’t parent like my parents did either, but I wonder if the lack of being able to explore and experience consequences as kids lead to problems as adults.
That’s a good point – you should post your article! I really love to read everyone’s thoughts. I had the same kind of childhood. Go outside, don’t go past here. There was so much freedom in our games and play. And you only came back in when you were called for dinner – and then you went back out before bath/bed. There was a whole lot of learning taking place outside of parents. Now we really control where are kids are and what they can do. I mean, granted, when we were kids we weren’t aware or thinking of all the bad people in the world lurking to hurt kids. Besides the type of play, I am thinking about that too. That is a really interesting thought though – I wonder how many MH issues are from stunting kids development in this way? Would make for a great discussion!
Thanks for sharing the article, Robyn. Lots to think about. It makes sense that lack of running and playing prevents the vestibular system from developing properly. I posted the article to FB to ask my teacher friends if the number of kids falling is a bit overstated or if things have changed that much in the 5 years since I “graduated” from second grade! We had the occasional toppling kid then, who was helped by sitting in a T-stool in class. I immediately pictured a whole class of T-stools when I read this! LOL. I enjoy reading everyone’s comments, especially Denise’s comment about mental health. We do live in a different world and children are raised differently in so many ways.
I was surprised to hear kids were falling out of their chairs at school. I came across the article on FB as someone had said their child fell out of his chair at home because of lack of exercise. I had never thought of what possible negative outcomes there would be – I mean we are just trying to keep our kids safe. But I guess there is an impact. I’d be interested to know if your teacher friends are seeing this too!
Loved your post Robyn! It really got me thinking …. How does one strike the delicate balance between cool spunky child-like fun and judicious wisdom-based safety when it comes to Child ‘s Play?
Thank you so much! I agree – we want to keep our kids safe but we want them to grow and be independent little beings. Where is that balance? Tough call! Thanks again 🙂
My pleasure! Looking forward to reading more of your posts and insights. Have a lovely day! ❤️
Robyn’s a good writer, so learning her thoughts and philosophy is an enjoyable process…
Spot on! ❤️
Thank you!! 🙂
That is so nice – thank you!
Thank you so much! You too!
I need to look into this more! I was just talking with another mom about how the kids didn’t have enough physical play time at school.
I wonder if all teachers are really seeing this – or maybe they don’t even realize they are? So crazy!
I don’t know! If I were crazy enough to be a teacher, I’d definitely do more active things!
My generation (one or two before your own) childhood consisted of your mom kicking you out the door after breakfast, being told not to come back before lunch unless you had a broken bone…
Kids are resilient… that being said, every potential danger to my kids looked like certain death to me as a parent…
I was laughing today when I took the kids to the pool thinking of me as a child just riding my bike there to spend the day with my friends. I don’t think there were ANY adults there – even the lifeguards were just teenagers. So crazy!
They are – For me to! I swear I look at anything and take it to it’s worst possible outcome. And even if someone tells me I am crazy, that will never happen, I sit and watch with white knuckles.
I may have been the child that hung upside down from the bar at the top of the swing set. My nan would have been horrified if she’d found out. I also fell off the same thing by lying across it on my stomach and seeing how high it would go. I was not a small child and I was definitely old enough to know that what I was doing was a bad idea. I did it anyway. Maybe something about testing boundaries or my own abilities.
I’m not a parent, but I think this goes past the physical stuff too. If parents try to remove every single obstacle from a child’s path, they never learn how to move or avoid the obstacles on their own. My grandparents definitely loved me, but I learned some self-advocacy lessons pretty early in life, because caring family members won’t always be there when the problems come up. And there will always be problems of some kind, so we need the skills to either avoid them, as with the dangerous situations, or find solutions.
Thanks for sharing 🙂
Yes, I agree. I think there is something to growing up that involves testing the limits. Of a piece of playground equipment or a boundary. Or even being left to some situation on our own as a youngster, within reason of course. So much learning being done!