Is it worth voicing my concern over safety?

Health and safety has spoilt many a playground game. Children need to learn how to take care - usually by getting a few bumps along the way.

Small children's brains and bodies learn to work together by trial and error, it's not necessarily about whether they consciously remember, more an instinct.

Think about a one year old learning to walk: they tumble, sit down, but carry on getting up and trying again until they master it. We would move a coffee table out of the way but we wouldn't, indeed couldn't, stop them.
They need to challenge themselves to gain independence, self-confidence and a sense of achievement.

Having said that I'm far more on edge looking after my granddaughter by myself than I ever was with my own!

When I was young and living in Dorset I and my brother were allowed to roam free. My brother was a bit accident prone and broke his like laying on the step of an old fashioned roundabout. It didn't stop us being able to go off on little expeditions. We were told the time by which we should come home and there would be a big telling off if we were late. Living in Suffolk, as an adult I was aware that one friend in particular wouldn't let her two sons out to play in the fields or cycle around the lanes. This was when they were 8 and 10. She wasn't worried about the speed of cars on some of the larger lanes but she imagined child molesters behind every hedge.

If that fear was taken literally there would hundreds of thousands of paedophiles lurking waiting to pounce behind every hedge in the countryside.

The two boys in question, once they had reached puberty were an absolute nightmare. One of them had to leave school because he set light to another boy's hair during the chemistry class.

I'm not suggesting that every child is going to turn out badly but they do need a certain amount of freedom and the ability to use their imaginations whilst being outside, building dens, climbing trees and generally having fun.outdoors,

janeainsworth, we used to make slides like those in the school playground until the janitor came round with ashes from the school boiler and spoilt our fun. I slipped and fell one day and tried to get out of a maths test by claiming I had hurt my wrist but as luck would have it the teacher had watched us from the staffroom window and didn't believe me! ?

I was looking at some online photos of children playing years ago and their environment was full of dangers. Bomb sites, rusty old machines, broken pipes, rickety stairs. Not an adult in sight. Or country kids, playing in the fields, making dens in the woods....
More recently, my heart was in my mouth when my young grandchildren had a tree house built for them, but they were taught to climb properly and now at 15 and 13, are excellent climbers on real rocks in the Peak District.
I agree that 4 and 2 are young ages, but with the parents there, the best thing is to say nothing. If you are in charge, then full precautions are the order of the day.

eazybee

Four adults supervising two small children on play equipment and they both were hurt.
Ummm?

4? I read this as 3 and one of the 3 ( marj60 ) was supervising. She just didn't offer advice.

I've never offered advice to my two children about their children unless asked for it. Other times, I bite my tongue.

ElaineI, when I was childminding, I'd be distraught if somebody else's child were injured. I never worried about my own, though!

I think we become far more cautious as we age, too. Falling or breaking a limb is so much more serious as older adults.

My sister and I grew up in the depths of the country and were allowed to roam free from a very young age. We made camps, climbed trees and dammed streams without serious injury, and it was great.. I wasn’t able to give my own children as much freedom because of more urban living, but I encouraged them to be bold. However looking after my grandchildren is a different story. I’ve always tried to return them in the same condition that they were in when I picked them up.

I'd like to hear more about what getting hurt means in this context. As the mother of a 7 year old boy, if it doesn't involve doctors I'd say it doesn't count. Stitches and broken bones are causes for concern.
Bruises and scrapes? Suck it up, buttercup.

eazybee

Four adults supervising two small children on play equipment and they both were hurt.
Ummm?

Must be great to be so perfect.....Ummmm???

Hmm! Dark and wet playground just don't go!! Expect trouble!

It's definitely an age thing. I am way more concerned about DGC than I was about my own children. I feel utterly responsible if they fall and bump themselves and dread telling DDs but they both don't bother and reassure me that is how children learn. Actually 2yo's do remember things PollyDolly and 4yo's definitely remember at least ours do. It doesn't always stop them doing it again but they remember or how would they learn anything.

janeainsworth

One of my childhood memories is of going out into the street in the dark, in the snow, with the other child inhabitants of the street and making icy slides in the road. You ran up to the start of the slide, & then slid at high speed for at least 10 yards, probably more.

No one died or even broke anything.

That is one of my favourite childhood memories! We were allowed to do it in the playground at primary school.

Hetty, couldn’t agree more. Children learn by doing, if they fall over then they learn ouch that hurts best not do that again. Unless they are playing with matches, or running with scissors or something equally as life threatening I’d keep my own counsel OP.

I seem to be in a minority here but I'm very nervous with children. A boy in our street died in the local river. A friend broke her arm on the slide on a dry sunny day! Accidents do happen.

The way we learnt about safety was by trial and error. Slipping, falling and sometimes getting hurt was just a part of childhood - and learning (a valuable one, too).

Jane10

As I said 4 and 2. Pretty irresponsible to let such small children 'learn about bumps and scrapes'.

I completely disagree.
Perfect timing to help them grow and be brave.

Bumps and scrapes come from having fun.

Yes coco lots of nursery age children out in all weathers, toasting marshmallows on real fires etc.

I think the new Scandinavian ‘Forest Schools’ allow all weather activities and climbing etc. so that children can learn from their own experiences. Isn’t usually the case that the cautious molly-coddled child is the one that gets hurt?

Marj60, just carry on keeping that mouth shut. Never expect others to follow your own rules - or behave as you would.

It can be argued that those overly concerned about safety do cause lasting damage to a child's development.

Constantly protecting them and discouraging their adventure/play with 'Careful, you might fall!' just tends to make them cautious and timid.

Obviously it wasn't so dark that nobody could see what the kids were doing. Playground equipment for two and four year olds is carefully designed with risks in mind, such as having soft surfaces below.

Without knowing more detail about what the kids were doing, and also whether the parents were keeping an eye on them, nobody can really say whether there were real safety issues.

And, quite apart from all that, of course it is not worth voicing your concerns. It is unreasonable to consider doing so unless you are solely in charge of the kids.

www.verywellfamily.com/why-risk-taking-is-healthy-for-kids-4118491

Fernhillnana

I don’t know if this helps but we had friends when my kids were growing up who were SO protective. When playing they were constantly told “be careful, don’t do that”. One became an outdoor danger sports instructor. The other has done nothing...

There in lies the lesson!

eazybee

Four adults supervising two small children on play equipment and they both were hurt.
Ummm?

You've missed the point easybee only the parents were supervising.
If the OP had her way she doesnt think the accident would have happened.

One of my childhood memories is of going out into the street in the dark, in the snow, with the other child inhabitants of the street and making icy slides in the road. You ran up to the start of the slide, & then slid at high speed for at least 10 yards, probably more.

No one died or even broke anything.