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Learning the ropes: why Germany is building risk into its playgrounds (2021)

theguardian.com

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Re: Learning the ropes: why Germany is building risk into its playgrounds (2021)

#71

Post by screwturner68 »

zabzonk wrote: post #5

I don't know, kids these days. You should have seen what we had to contend with in the 60s - huge lumps of flesh mangling metal, swinging at terrifying angles, throwing small children off in all directions. And no wimpy rubber mats to catch them. Sometimes, I wonder that I survived.

maybe it's just my old man memory but when I was young in the 70's there was always one or two kids in a cast, usually a broken arm -it was a bit of a badge of honor and something for everyone to sign. Now I almost never see a kid in a cast maybe medicine has gotten a lot better and things seem to have had the entire danger aspect removed from them. I wonder if play today is boring or there is so much safety that kids don't think anything about doing something stupid since they can't get hurt.

Re: Learning the ropes: why Germany is building risk into its playgrounds (2021)

#72

Post by wnevets »

DiggyJohnson wrote: post #51
wnevets wrote: post #48

Is anyone else like me and just sick & tired of the boomerification of the public discourse? There isn't anything more wrong with kids these days compared to previous generations. Participation trophies didn't matter, foam playgrounds didn't create "soft" kids. Its all non-sense. "What is happening to our young people? They disrespect their elders, they disobey their parents. They ignore the law. They riot in the str…

Would you dismiss any evidence of generational changes in the way children are raised, in the aggregate? Or that changes in the way children are raised don’t affect the child?

I would love to see evidence that showed a measurable difference of an adult's behavior or personality based on the playground (or trophy policy) they grew up with.

Re: Learning the ropes: why Germany is building risk into its playgrounds (2021)

#74

Post by rollcat »

moonchrome wrote: post #34
chmod775 wrote: post #15

These things are ubiquitous in Berlin: https://stage.berliner-seilfabrik.com/wp-content/uploads/201... They're not actually that high to an adult, but I have childhood memories of these seeming somewhat tall and scary. On an average one, a young child can fall 4-6 times their own height (but not straight, you'll get buffered by the structure as you go down).

> They're not actually that high to an adult Not the ones we have here in Croatia : https://fastly.4sqi.net/img/general/width960/57918118_91NXEE...

Is this Bundek? I love the place

Re: Learning the ropes: why Germany is building risk into its playgrounds (2021)

#75

Post by screwturner68 »

matsemann wrote: post #56
janmarsal wrote: post #9

I remember when I was a teen I started noticing how the nanny state had managed to remove all the old swings I used to play with and replaced them with some tiny and safe swings that no one even uses anymore. Children even started wearing yellow safety vests to school all of a sudden. I'm glad there's at least some backlash to this nonsense.

> Children even started wearing yellow safety vests to school all of a sudden Ban cars around schools. Ironically, the danger to kids walking to school is other parents driving their kid to school (a bit stressed, over the limit and probably on their phone).

Things only gotten safer over the last 50 years and every kid walked to school in the 60's,70's & 80's but now the majority are carted in very large SUVs. Something changed and it's not safety. I'd also add that they walked to school without parental supervision pretty much from kindergarten forward. I think most parents today would have a heart attack if their 2nd grader walked to school alone (even though they likely did)

Re: Learning the ropes: why Germany is building risk into its playgrounds (2021)

#76

Post by runnerup »

screwturner68 wrote: post #71
zabzonk wrote: post #5

I don't know, kids these days. You should have seen what we had to contend with in the 60s - huge lumps of flesh mangling metal, swinging at terrifying angles, throwing small children off in all directions. And no wimpy rubber mats to catch them. Sometimes, I wonder that I survived.

maybe it's just my old man memory but when I was young in the 70's there was always one or two kids in a cast, usually a broken arm -it was a bit of a badge of honor and something for everyone to sign. Now I almost never see a kid in a cast maybe medicine has gotten a lot better and things seem to have had the entire danger aspect removed from them. I wonder if play today is boring or there is so much safety that kid…

90’s as well. Lots of casts. I didn’t get one so I’m not sure how to judge the risk-reward.

Re: Learning the ropes: why Germany is building risk into its playgrounds (2021)

#77

Post by ip26 »

swimfar wrote: post #13

It doesn't look like they are building risk into the playgrounds, as much as they are building the feeling of risk. which isn't necessarily a bad thing. This seems like a compromise that should be seen as better, or at least acceptable to both extremes of parents. "The maximum fall height in the Triitopia structure’s spiderweb is 1.8 metres." That's not a risky fall, if you're falling onto a rope net. Also, "The Trii…

Risk is likelihood X consequence, and there is also the distinction of actual risk vs perceived risk. They are manipulating the four variables; control actual consequence, maximize perceived consequence, maximize perceived likelihood, and moderate actual likelihood.

Both are types of risk IMO, and as children come to recognize the actual risk through experience they will come to recalibrate their perceived risk. Ideally this makes them better at perceiving risk in the future.

Re: Learning the ropes: why Germany is building risk into its playgrounds (2021)

#78

Post by sircastor »

themitigating wrote: post #52
leipert wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many, if not most, public playgrounds are maintained by the city or municipality in Germany. Here in a larger city they are checked and cleaned weekly.

So not the state?

“The state” is a generic term that refers to the government, local, provincial, or larger.

Re: Learning the ropes: why Germany is building risk into its playgrounds (2021)

#80

Post by wizofaus »

sircastor wrote: post #78
themitigating wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So not the state?

“The state” is a generic term that refers to the government, local, provincial, or larger.

I'd suggest it's not typically thought of as including local government. It is a peculiarly overloaded term though, particularly if you live in a country where "state" is a key governmental/administrative division! In the usage here - "nanny state" - I'd agree it can include local government and indeed even organisations operating below that level (it might just be a single school board making "nanny state" decisions).
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