The War on Boys

[Delightful Life]

Britain playgrounds: learning to accept risk, and occasional ‘owie’

 

[KayTheCurler]

I noticed kids climbing all over the mountains of snow in the school yard as we left for work today. Frankly, if they were not allowed to do that, they would have nowhere to play..... It was good to see them doing that.

Locally the acceptance of kids climbing on snow piles depends a lot on where the snow was gathered from. Apparently some areas are considered too dirty (drug needles, garbage in general) to be safe for the kids.

 

[ChemGal]

One of the biggest problems for 'boys', is the end of the well-paid manufacturing jobs. The work of the future looks a lot different, and a lot of men, raised by men who were blue-collar workers, don't know where they fit in this world of service jobs.

There are many service blue collar jobs. Does it matter if it's manufacturing vs. service?

 

[Mendalla]

I think there's safe and there's paranoid. Safe is replacing gravel with foam padding, ensuring there are minimal opportunities for strangulation and such, no sharp points sticking out of the equipment. Paranoid is trying to remove every teensie tiny bit of risk from something, regardless of how likely the risk really is relative to the fun and exercise to be had. Safe should be the goal, not paranoid.

 

[paradox3]

Technically speaking what @Mendalla is describing is not paranoid. Overzealousness or obsessive, maybe.

 

[ChemGal]

We have multiple new schools in the area. Playgrounds come from the work of the community league. Last one built was for my neighbourhood, current fundraiser is for a school in a neighbourhood a little bit away. There's a new school really close to me, I think that may be next although there's also a school in the neighbourhood south of us that's also within the league boundaries.

On top of this, is the residents' association which is for my neighbourhood only. That's mostly about the private lake area (with playground), but they have built one public non-school playground too.

 

[Mendalla]

Technically speaking what @Mendalla is describing is not paranoid. Overzealousness or obsessive, maybe.

I don't know, some of it seems to border on paranoia to me.

 

[Northwind]

Locally the acceptance of kids climbing on snow piles depends a lot on where the snow was gathered from. Apparently some areas are considered too dirty (drug needles, garbage in general) to be safe for the kids.

I think northern Alberta parents are different from southern Ontario parents. They are more likely to let their kids take some risks, and let them play in the snow, etc. They have to be. If they didn't the kids would have no play time. Also, many families go sledding (snowmobile) or quadding, so like the outdoors.

 

[BetteTheRed]

When I was a child going to this same school, there was more snow, granted, but it was also customarily piled at the top of an existing hill in the school yard itself, which made some rather exciting sledding and sliding opportunities (it's a fair grade without an addition). I was fine, and so was the baby, but I had a middle sister who was accident prone, and that damned hill occasioned at LEAST three visits to the ER for stitches...

 

[Kimmio Laughterlove]

Boys and girls are, 99.9% of the time, equally deprived of the risk of playing on snow piles here.

 

[Jaebius]

Boys and girls are, 99.9% of the time, equally deprived of the risk of playing on snow piles here.

They sure all get a good chance to play in the rain though.

 

[Mrs.Anteater]

I don’t remember my elementary school having a playground. We played different kinds of hopscotch and tag and we would bike and walk to school. My high school had outdoors pingpong tables where we played “chinese table tennis” ( table tennis with unlimited players who line up on both sides and then have to run over to the other side once you had your turn, if you don’t get your ball, you are out. We also played cards during recess.

 

[paradox3]

I don't know, some of it seems to border on paranoia to me.

No, not in the clinical sense which is where I am coming from with this. As a retired mental health professional.

In the vernacular of the day "paranoid" is often used to mean overanxious, etc.

If you had a relative who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia or paranoid delusions you might be unhappy with the vernacular use of the term.
Just saying.

 

[Mendalla]

They sure all get a good chance to play in the rain though.

You're not supposed to play in the rain, you're supposed to sing and dance in the rain. Gene Kelly told me so.

 

[Luce NDs]

No, not in the clinical sense which is where I am coming from with this. As a retired mental health professional.

In the vernacular of the day "paranoid" is often used to mean overanxious, etc.

If you had a relative who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia or paranoid delusions you might be unhappy with the vernacular use of the term.
Just saying.

But do normal people have understandings about anxiety, fear, frustration and anger thereof? Thus Nous antes ... or psychotic aberrations ... Wrinkles? These can screw up a face ... ... fascist?

Tell me again about abnormal and abstract ...