Remind me not to buy a seesaw for my kids...

[imhumanoid]

HasTy, I love that song ^_^

I wish it was that way now and as I was growing up. * is 15*
I wish video games were never invented. It annoys me to no end, kids need to go outside and have fun, not "have fun" staring at a screen.

 

[emt1994]

My kids have one video game and they have to earn the use of it I make sure they are outside most of the day and they can only watch tv at night they dont mind that they lovebeing outside well see what happens as they age but its true you have computers,videogames, and our kids are mad because they dont have what the others do I said well when your old enough to get a job and make money then you can buy them but im not spending so much money on gaming systems they are lucky there aunts bought the one they have.
I use to play outside from morning till dark with friends and you never had to worry about cell phones or anything else you just came home in time for dinner and things were so much easier

 

[Melclin]

That's sooooo much fun.

----Truth-----

 

[Chelle]

Then bikes better be out, too. ^_^

When hubby was a kid, he and his brother turned their bike upside down and launched rocks as far as they could while spinning the tire. They thought it would be a great idea to try a brick as they were positive it would completely stop the tire. Instead, it launched the brick right into their little sister's head and dropped her like a rock. They ran screaming to tell their neighbor that they killed her. Guess they were too afraid to tell their mom. She lived. Come to think of it, maybe this explains all the dumbass decisions she's gone on to make in her life.

I also have a vivid memory of a little girl falling off the top step of a slide when I was in kindergarten. She was unconscious and the teacher picked her up and ran with her to the school, her little head knockin' and bobbin' all the way there. :huh:

 

[medic417]

Anyone recall the big barrel looking deal on the playground kind of like the hamster wheel that you got inside and tried to run as fast as you could then when you stopped or fell you went flying. That thing was cool. Wish they still had those.

 

[Kookaburra]

I remember those! I think I left about 70% of my epidermis on one at the local pizza parlor.

 

[HotelCo]

I liked the swings and the play structures on the playgrounds. Swings were fun, and the play structure, well... you could always find something to do on those things.

 

[Small_Town_EMT]

I don't feel that it would be wise to take away any playground equipment that may be deemed as possibly dangerous. You talked about the Merry-go-round, and the seasaw, what about swings, jungle gyms, monkey bars etc. There is inharent danger in any playground activity! Are we going to ban our kids from running next because they may fall down and hit their face on the ground??? Let's let our kids live a little, and experience life. It is impossible for us to protect them from EVERYTHING!

 

[Small_Town_EMT]

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AlrFOBmdVI[/YOUTUBE]

Excellent song HasTy! Made a very good point.

 

[emtcboots]

How about the huge Burger King slides that used to be on all the playgrounds around North Carolina? They were probably 10-15 feet tall. Giant heaps of scrap metal. When I was about 8, I was looking down at a friend from the top and somehow fell over the rail. Landed flat on my chest and my face. I never climbed to the top of a Burger King slide again.

 

[Tincanfireman]

I don't feel that it would be wise to take away any playground equipment that may be deemed as possibly dangerous. You talked about the Merry-go-round, and the seasaw, what about swings, jungle gyms, monkey bars etc. There is inharent danger in any playground activity! Are we going to ban our kids from running next because they may fall down and hit their face on the ground??? Let's let our kids live a little, and experience life. It is impossible for us to protect them from EVERYTHING!

I would rather my grandchildren experience a broken arm from falling out of a tree than childhood obesity. I would rather take them to the dentist with a chipped tooth from falling from a swingset than see them get caps from drinking too much soda. I would rather they be tired the morning after reading too much than staying up playing video games. Let our children learn that their actions can generate rewards or consequences. Let them scrape their knees, cut their fingers, and get bruises. All these things are better than wearing out the controllers on a Gameboy.

 

[eveningsky339]

I would rather my grandchildren experience a broken arm from falling out of a tree than childhood obesity. I would rather take them to the dentist with a chipped tooth from falling from a swingset than see them get caps from drinking too much soda. I would rather they be tired the morning after reading too much than staying up playing video games. Let our children learn that their actions can generate rewards or consequences. Let them scrape their knees, cut their fingers, and get bruises. All these things are better than wearing out the controllers on a Gameboy.

Amen!

Though now that I think about it, I know the kids at the local elementary schools more than I know some of my relatives... Let's all thank playground equipment for supporting EMS.

 

[bunkie]

Let's take roller blades off the list too. I snapped my right wrist when I fell and landed on my hands in the 7th grade. Was not a fun summer. I still cringe when I see those things.

 

[el Murpharino]

I would rather my grandchildren experience a broken arm from falling out of a tree than childhood obesity. I would rather take them to the dentist with a chipped tooth from falling from a swingset than see them get caps from drinking too much soda. I would rather they be tired the morning after reading too much than staying up playing video games. Let our children learn that their actions can generate rewards or consequences. Let them scrape their knees, cut their fingers, and get bruises. All these things are better than wearing out the controllers on a Gameboy.

I believe George Carlin deemed it the "pussification" of society...

 

[bunkie]

Then bikes better be out, too. ^_^

When hubby was a kid, he and his brother turned their bike upside down and launched rocks as far as they could while spinning the tire. They thought it would be a great idea to try a brick as they were positive it would completely stop the tire. Instead, it launched the brick right into their little sister's head and dropped her like a rock. They ran screaming to tell their neighbor that they killed her. Guess they were too afraid to tell their mom. She lived. Come to think of it, maybe this explains all the dumbass decisions she's gone on to make in her life.

I also have a vivid memory of a little girl falling off the top step of a slide when I was in kindergarten. She was unconscious and the teacher picked her up and ran with her to the school, her little head knockin' and bobbin' all the way there. :huh:

Ohh bikes. My most memorable playing injury. Was riding on the handlebars of my bike while my friend rode me realllllly fast. She hit the brakes suddenly and I went flying... down the gravel road, on my face. Walked back to the house crying and swatting gnats away from the ripped up flesh, walked in the door and my dad about hit the roof. Ripped off the right side of my face. It was a fun, fun summer.

 

[jazzydoc11]

So during my 24 yesterday we were walking through the ER bored as heck (1 call the whole day)

We come up to one of the rooms with an 8yo f that got injured on her seesaw.


Bilateral compound tib/fib.


Ouch.

lol, tire swings were the bomb. i loved spinning my playmates and telling them the teacher is calling just so i could see them try and run with their equilibrium all jacked up. ( i think i spelled that wrong)

 

[Kookaburra]

lol, tire swings were the bomb. i loved spinning my playmates and telling them the teacher is calling just so i could see them try and run with their equilibrium all jacked up. ( i think i spelled that wrong)

Ha ha, when I was in college I babysat for extra dough - my favorite was having "whirligig races"

I'd spin the kids on the merry-go-round, then they'd have to race to a tree and back or something.

COMEDY GOLD:lol:

 

[nomofica]

Ha ha, when I was in college I babysat for extra dough - my favorite was having "whirligig races"

I'd spin the kids on the merry-go-round, then they'd have to race to a tree and back or something.

COMEDY GOLD:lol:

I still do this when I'm bored... LOL

Get an office chair that can spin, and do just that for a good 15-30 seconds preferably quite fast. Then run around the room or try to wrestle each other. It's epic.

 

[Theo]

Ahhh, yes the merry-go-round was one of our favorites as children. although some may call it a torture device. I lived across the street from a public park growing up and one of our favorite games was to get every kid in the park on the merry-go-round and then spin it fast enough so people would start to fall off. Once you fell off, you joined in spinning it until there was no one left on it. This game, of course, led to vomiting, broken bones, stitches, and many minor injuries/bruises/scrapes, but man what fun.

It's scary thinking about what we did growing up, but it's sad that my kids are growing up in a very different world.

 

[Mountain Res-Q]

There are two extremes here that I can illustrate from personal life.

My brother was one of those kids that needed to have a helmet strapped to his head and a pillow stapled to his butt. The injuries I can remember include:

Riding his bike into a parked car. He was not a little kid and had been riding a bike for years; just tried to play chicken with a parked Jeep. He jammed his two top teath up and almost lost them. He never could explain why he did this. Maybe he thought it would swerve first...

Pretended he was a whale at Sea World and (in our built in pool) tried to beach himself by swimming underwater as fast as possible and when he reached the end of the pool, tried to "jump out" like a whale would. Well, since he didn't use his feet to push off the bottom, and since he didn't have flippers... he feel short and only his head beached, cracking hard agains the concrete. He lost a chunk of fleash from his chin; a chuck that was never recovered and still has a scar on his chin.

Playing on a late 80' / early 90's home gym, he tried to climb it without using his feat... he fell short and literally feel azz first. He feel on a bolt and was left with a hexagon scar on his azz that could very well still be there.

Playing around at a friends house, he jumped on a wood burning stove (dunno why) and his right forearm landed on the top, resulting in second degree burns. He didn;t tell anyone for several hours because he didn't wan't to leave his friends house. He eventually told someone and went to the ER, but the resulting infection had so nice halucinations assosiated with it. He woke up at one point and started screaming for "his green". "Where's my green? I need my green?" Still not sure what that meant, but it was funny as hell.

He jumped off a rock in Arizona (we all were) and broke his foot. Again... never told anyone because he wanted to keep playing on the rocks.

Literally, from the age of 5 to the age of 15 he visited the ER more times than Tim "the Toolman" Taylor. He broke bones, had serious preventable infections, and injuries resulting in some serious scars.

When he reached 16, the odds were elevated and it is a miricle that he is alive still. He was stupid enough to video tape most of his idiotic "adventures" that usually involved explosives and high speed; things that really make for some awesome EMS calls...

ON THE OTHER HAND...

My cousin (12 y/o) can't run, throw, or jump. He takes no risks because he never leaves the computer room, even when he comes to visit us. My goal this next year is to take him into the woods and turn him into a kid. I can't believe he is my cousin. He is all about Starbucks, McDonalds, and Video Games. Mind you, I like those same things, but the kid tried to chase the Hound this last month (forced "playing" time") and didn't know how to run. He fell, scraped his knee, and cried until we let him back on the computer. IT IS SAD!

So, two extremes... One is a bubble boy, a product of society's urbanization that has left us all dependant on McDonalds, Starbucks, WalMart, and the computer. the other, needed a bubble and large amounts of sedation. Could we find a middle ground? GET DIRTY... HAVE FUN... GET OUTSIDE... DON'T STICK FIRECRACKERS IN WATERMELONS AND SEE HOW LONG IT TAKES YOU TO RUN AWAY FROM THEM BEFORE THEY EXPLODE!!! (My brother)...