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Boring Playgrounds
I remember when I was a kid my parents took me and my siblings to a playground/park thing in the mountain somewhere with all kinds of fun stuff.
There was a stream running through it with a large tree intentionally cut and laid over the stream as a bridge.
There was a climbing wall which was tall enough that if I climbed to the top my dad couldn't reach me without climbing up a bit himself.
There were swings, not the ones shaped like a pair of underwear that you couldn't get out of without someone lifting you.
There were monkey bars, not the ones where your feet drag on the ground when you're hanging from them.
There was a zip-line type thing. Not sure what it's called but it was like a zip-line on a rail.
There was a big metal sliding board. Which was genuinely large.
Basically there was a bunch of stuff there, some of which was so 'dangerous' that responsible parents would have to tell their kid: "have fun, but don't climb the wall and stay off the trampoline."
It was the parents responsibility to make sure their 5 year olds weren't playing on stuff that was made for 12 year olds.
Well Last weekend my sister was in the emergency room and I volunteered to take care of her kids. One 7 year old, one 10 year old, both boys.
Not having any kids of my own I didn't realize how much playgrounds had changed over the years, so I took them to the only playground I could find on short notice:
The kind with a merry-go-round which I swear had some kind of hydraulic system in it to keep it from going faster than walking speed.
The kind with the monkey bars where the kids had to duck to go underneath.
The kind with the plastic sliding board which is actually a tube that zaps you when you get off. (I call it the negative reinforcement slide. Designed to emit an electrical shock to train the child not to climb ladders.)
The kind with a tire swing which is 3 inches off the ground and held up by 4 chains so that it cannot be spun or move outside a 2' radius.
Not even the 7 year old had fun. We spent about 10 minutes there and then I finally decided it sucked. So I went to Goodwill bought 3 sets of the cheapest clothes I could find and we played in a stream on one of my friends property. That was actually pretty darn fun. We caught a pile of crawfish, which we later BBQ'd and ate.
Why do playgrounds have to suck so much? How can we make non-sucky playgrounds without getting sued to death?
There was a stream running through it with a large tree intentionally cut and laid over the stream as a bridge.
There was a climbing wall which was tall enough that if I climbed to the top my dad couldn't reach me without climbing up a bit himself.
There were swings, not the ones shaped like a pair of underwear that you couldn't get out of without someone lifting you.
There were monkey bars, not the ones where your feet drag on the ground when you're hanging from them.
There was a zip-line type thing. Not sure what it's called but it was like a zip-line on a rail.
There was a big metal sliding board. Which was genuinely large.
Basically there was a bunch of stuff there, some of which was so 'dangerous' that responsible parents would have to tell their kid: "have fun, but don't climb the wall and stay off the trampoline."
It was the parents responsibility to make sure their 5 year olds weren't playing on stuff that was made for 12 year olds.
Well Last weekend my sister was in the emergency room and I volunteered to take care of her kids. One 7 year old, one 10 year old, both boys.
Not having any kids of my own I didn't realize how much playgrounds had changed over the years, so I took them to the only playground I could find on short notice:
The kind with a merry-go-round which I swear had some kind of hydraulic system in it to keep it from going faster than walking speed.
The kind with the monkey bars where the kids had to duck to go underneath.
The kind with the plastic sliding board which is actually a tube that zaps you when you get off. (I call it the negative reinforcement slide. Designed to emit an electrical shock to train the child not to climb ladders.)
The kind with a tire swing which is 3 inches off the ground and held up by 4 chains so that it cannot be spun or move outside a 2' radius.
Not even the 7 year old had fun. We spent about 10 minutes there and then I finally decided it sucked. So I went to Goodwill bought 3 sets of the cheapest clothes I could find and we played in a stream on one of my friends property. That was actually pretty darn fun. We caught a pile of crawfish, which we later BBQ'd and ate.
Why do playgrounds have to suck so much? How can we make non-sucky playgrounds without getting sued to death?
Comments
However, you've struck upon the solution - Get creative, and do something else. As Scott pointed out, not likely you'll get it changed, so engage the spirit of creativity at poleaxing yourself we all had as kids. Do Something different. Hell, playing in a stream with an adult who is paying attention - as I assume you were, taking care of kids - isn't exactly the death zone on Everest. It's probably about as safe as one of those playgrounds*. It's just different, and interesting, and therefore more fun.
*- Unless your safe-ish playgrounds are even worse than ours. They're pretty safe and sedate, here, but not too bad, and some relics remain, such as the pedal powered whirlygig in Broadwater Park. Great fun when you're drunk.
I would play there, but I'd probably be arrested...
I read a really sad story about a nice homeless guy (not a crazy/dangerous homless guy) who would play chess in the playground and teach all the children. He got fined $50 because the chess tables were inside of the area that was technically the playground, and now he can't go back. There are plenty of other parks in other areas where the chess/checkers boards aren't near the playground, but now he can't teach the childrens. Yes, he was actually a nice old guy and not a pedophile. I know, shocking?
I could do a Michael Jackson and make a Neverland Ranch type thing in my backyard and let all the local kids play in it, but then I would be liable if one of those kids cracks his head on a see-saw.
The laws are not conducive to children having fun.
Attractive Nuisance - a dangerous condition that may attract children onto land, thereby causing a risk to their safety.
Attractive Nuisance Doctrine - a person who owns land in which there is a dangerous thing or condition that will foreseeably lure children to trespass is under the duty to protect the children from danger
Personally, I think if a kid is stupid enough to come onto my property and use my shit, then they deserve what they get. I'm pretty sure my parents would feel the same way. That's why you TEACH your kids not to mess with other people's shit! You don't have to show actual damages for a trespass suit. The injury is to your property right; the right to exclude.
I think. IANAL. Now, I will go look up the relevant New York statutes.
Seems like I might be on the mark: It seems a bit nebulous in places, but it generally seems like just being on property isn't necessarily trespassing unless it's really really obvious that it's private. A fence immediately makes something private.
Relevant New York laws.
And really, this makes sense. If you have a bigass field, and it's not obvious that you own or use it, how can you hold someone liable for not knowing that it was yours? That's stupid. But a fence is universally understood to mean "you should only be in here if you have permission."
And if you live in a subdivision or development where you have a neighbor like 100 feet away, you'll probably want some way to mark your property line. Believe me, I've watched people fight about property lines and such. Just put up a fence and take care of it.
Fun fact: Criminal trespass and tort trespass are different. You can't sue someone for the crime of trespass. Isn't law fun???
And of course we always played the game of "have people push you and swing as high as you can and jump off" which I'm sure isn't allowed anymore.