The Deadly Swing Set Debate

I love to swing. The swing set was always my favorite piece of playground equipment as a child—and as an adult! Just last week, I was visiting my hometown of Midland, Michigan, and walked to my old elementary school where I hopped on a swing. I find swinging to be therapeutic—it’s probably the soothing back-and-forth motion.

 But did you know (cue ominous music) that swing sets are deadly? According to reports, there are more playground injuries involving swing sets than any other piece of                                                                                                                  playground equipment.

Here’s an article about one school district that is getting rid of all its swing sets. Begone, dangerous playground equipment! Here’s another, rather sarcastic one, that poked fun at the issue.

How do you feel about it? Are the school officials being safe or are they being ridiculous?

PS Check out Karen’s blog for an opportunity to win a free copy of the book Space Taxi: Water Planet Rescue. It’s a quick way to get a book for your classroom library. And did I mention it’s free? Yep, free!

 

 


6 thoughts on “The Deadly Swing Set Debate

  1. Saw fabulous playgound in a schoo yard in Greece. Swing , see saw, the circle thing where about four kids can run around it then jump on and lots of roots branches not all cleaned up. It looked like so much fun.

  2. We still have swings at our school. In the six years I have worked there, we haven’t had one injury due to the swings. Even if there had been some injuries, I think adults are overreacting about this. Kids have accidents all the time. It’s part of growing up. We can’t just put kids in bubble wrap and keep them safe from every single danger in the world. All we can do is teach them how to be safe to the best of our abilities.

  3. I don’t remember anyone getting hurt by a swing when I was in grade school.

    However, now that I’m a teacher, each year I see that we have several playground accidents during P.E. involving swings. The main problem is that while some students are swinging, others walk right in front of them and wind up getting kicked. Honestly, I don’t ever remember that happening when I was in school. I had never even heard of that happening.

    Kids cannot be put in a bubble and shielded from every danger in the world. They’ve got to learn how to make safe choices. Learning not to walk in front of their friends who are swinging is one of them.

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