Why Seesaws Are Disappearing From Playgrounds In LA
My friend Jim McCarthy, of Goldstar Events, tells me that playgrounds have become mollycoddling grounds, with cushy groundcover (I don't have so much of a problem with that -- we had sand) and a disappearance of items kids could possibly get hurt playing on. I don't know about you, but one fall after doing something dumb was a very good teacher for me -- during the years my bones were a little more elastic than they are now.
These days, says Jim, they don't even have seesaws. Why? Because kids "might not cooperate well enough to use them." Well, maybe they could learn cooperative skills just like we did! Another example of this is the trend against correcting in red ink that's popping up in schools. One of my favorite debunkers of feminist lies and reasons to whine, Christina Hoff Sommers, writes in USA Today:
Purple is replacing red as the color of choice for teachers. Why, you may ask? It seems that educators worry that emphatic red corrections on a homework assignment or test can be stressful, demeaning — even "frightening" for a young person. The principal of Thaddeus Stevens Elementary in Pittsburgh advises teachers to use only "pleasant-feeling tones."Major pen manufacturers appear to agree. Robert Silberman, vice president of marketing at Pilot Pen, says teachers "are trying to be positive and reinforcing rather than harsh." Michael Finn, a spokesperson for Paper Mate, approves: "This is a kinder, more gentle education system." Which color is best for children? Stephen Ahle, principal at Pacific Rim Elementary in Carlsbad, Calif., offers lavender "because it is a calming color."
A calmer, gentler grading color? Are schoolchildren really so upset by corrections in primary red? Why have teachers become so careful?
Maybe if it feels like crap to see all those red corrections you'll work a little harder next time? Hoff Sommers explains further:
It seems that many adults today regard the children in their care as fragile hothouse flowers who require protection from even the remote possibility of frustration, disappointment or failure. The new solicitude goes far beyond blacklisting red pens. Many schools now discourage or prohibit competitive games such as tag or dodge ball. The rationale: too many hurt feelings. In May 2002, for example, the principal of Franklin Elementary School in Santa Monica, Calif., sent a newsletter to parents informing them that children could no longer play tag during the lunch recess. As she explained, "In this game, there is a 'victim' or 'It,' which creates a self-esteem issue."
Oh, please. Guess what, lady? Life is just full of them: Victims, "It"s, and self-esteem issues -- especially of those who've never had to learn the hard lessons because idiots like you gave them soft landing grounds their whole lives.
PS Goldstar offers half-price (and sometimes free) theater tickets -- and to some very good stuff -- to people who live in LA, San Francisco, Orange County, Silicon Valley, San Diego, Las Vegas, and soon, in Chicago.
I've witnessed the "no competitive games" rule being enforced in a summer camp, but it's not just for children. As a grad student I had to take a class on "how to teach" before I taught an undergraduate college class independently. Most of the class was a how-to on providing our fragile undergrads a soft landing ground -- and yes, we were told not to use red markers to correct papers in order not to intimidate the students (these are young adults I am talking about). When I taught the class I found myself in the somewhat awkward position that, as a non-native speaker of English, I had to correct often horrible grammar and missuse of words (is it too much to ask that a college student knows the difference between affect and effect, especially after going over it in class) with a non-intimidating pen color.
Grad Student at June 3, 2005 6:59 AM
Funny thing about all that softly rounded, brightly colored, very expensive modular playground equipment that replaces good old fashioned swings and slides and seesaws and jungle gyms. YOU NEVER SEE KIDS ON IT (except for the first couple of weeks after it's installed). The kids look at it with curiousity, check it out, get quickly bored and then ignore it. Oh for the joys of a simple swing in the shade of an old tree.....
Diana at June 3, 2005 7:33 AM
Kids are overly coddled. I remember taking a friend's son to his science fair, where all the elementary school children won blue ribbons for "effort." He kept asking, "But who won?" In the spirit of false esteem-building, which I usually scoff at, I said, "Honey, everyone won." And he said, "I'm not stupid. Who had the best science project?" No, they ain't stupid, even if we sometimes treat them that way.
On the teeter totters, I don't this they're gone because kids can't cooperate. There is lots of teeter totter (seesaw?) like equipment at Douglas Park and Aidan's Place and parks all around the city, with kids on one side sharing their seats and kids on the other side. And they're always in use. Only the old-fashioned kind are gone and I do think that's probaly due to safety concerns.
Maybe kids should be able to pick their grading color, like being able to pick the switch off the tree for their next beating. I'm kidding, but only by half.
Proud Mama at June 3, 2005 9:15 AM
Having soothing lavendar colors plastered all over my error-ridden papers would have provided incentive for this addictive personality. Why bother to learn when you can feel calming pleasure instead?
Doug at June 3, 2005 10:38 AM
I love cuddling kids. I do not like seeing them cry, but I like to see them have fun & dare & succeed. How is a baby ever going to learn to walk (=blue ribbon) if never allowed to fall (=red ink... or purple bruise!).
Whether color blue, color red or color purple, in the adult world these same babies will have to face harsh competition or find themselves in the ranks of the unemployed. Who needs a doctor who gives the wrong prescription, a lawyer who does not speak well, a teacher who cannot spell, a builder who ignores state of the art rules of construction (anyone heard about the collapse of roof at newest wing of Roissy airport in May 2004?). Who wants a losing champion? We want the best actors in the play, the best musicians in orchestra. Can you imagine the New York Philharmonic or any world famous orchestra performing sour notes symphonies?
Frania W. (very old-fashioned!)
Frania W. at June 3, 2005 10:39 AM
A nice piece about this kinda thing.
Crid at June 3, 2005 3:51 PM
Crid, that was an excellent piece. Thanks for the reference.
I can tell you that there are no teeter totters (the term used here) in the Seattle parks anymore. Liability issues.
regina
hrc at June 3, 2005 4:33 PM
"How is a baby ever going to learn to walk"
Does this mean that kids who can't walk are disabled because they didn't try hard enough to learn? Babies don't "learn" how to walk. Rather, walking emerges during physical development, and sometimes impaired walking emerges.
Lena the would-be kinesiologist at June 3, 2005 5:55 PM
Lena, I was talking in a general sense, for the lucky ones who are not disabled, because the discussion on "competition" was making no mention of the disabled. And, yes, babies "learn" to walk, with gentle coaxing, going from one parent to another, one step at a time... and falling along the way.
Frania W.
Frania W. at June 3, 2005 7:34 PM
Ahem. It's not just kids in school who get the rubber-room treatment. Assorted people all over America urge you to blame the other person, the corporation, the (you name it), rather than get a clue that it really is you being stupid. Here's one of the basics of the gun-control argument: (women, minorities, pick one) are too (pick demeaning synonym for incompetent) to defend themselves with an effective weapon. Gee, somebody might get hurt. When somebody does get hurt, blame the weapon, not the wielder, because we can't let anyone realize that they control the outcome of every situation in their lives.
Lest someone go nuts because I used the word, "gun", let's just say that Wal-Mart has pallets of shotgun shells in the aisles here, while in some parts of the country they don't even sell "Field & Stream" because of its subversive content. Guess which area has the high crime rate... while claiming to hold "freedom" dear...
Sorry. There's plenty of irrationality to go around; I just have the biggest peeve with those who claim that we as a people *can't* do something important - like behave responsibly, including taking the licks you deserve.
Radwaste at June 3, 2005 8:58 PM
I agree with everyone here about the stupidity of coddling.
However I do seem to recall from elementary school that at least two or three kids every year got their heads cracked open on that see-saw (teeter-totter?) thing. While I don't like coddling, I really don't think it would be a bad idea to remove something that seems to cause more than its share of skull fractures of minors.
Little ted at June 5, 2005 3:53 PM
A little late to this post but I thought I'd throw in my two cents. In highschool a friend and I exchanged (horrible, awful) short stories. I used to go over his writings with a purple pen (my signature color), correcting his multitude of spelling mistakes, punctuation errors, and grammatical oddities. Eventually he went on to graduate a good liberal arts college and graduated with a degree in english. He writes some very good poetry these days. And to this day claims the sight of purple ink on his papers gives him a panic attack.
Moral of the story: It doesn't really matter what color the ink is. Purple is just as capable of inflicing emotional trauma on friends. :)
But he does write some great poetry.
LX at April 13, 2006 9:38 PM
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