Mary Papadakis
Sunday Herald Sun

SAFETY-FIRST playgrounds bore children and discourage them from playing outdoors, new research has found.


An element of risk at play in schools and parks helps children become more active, the research finds.

University of Sydney health sciences professor Anita Bundy said this week Australian playgrounds were too safety conscious — slides and swings placed barely above the ground in an effort to eliminate risk of falls and injury.

“Kids have to fall, have to scratch themselves and bruise and graze,” she said. “That is how they learn what they can do and can’t do.”

Prof Bundy said children were being driven indoors to take part in sedentary play such as video games. This increased their risk of obesity.

Titled Popping the Bubble Wrap, her study showed children were 60 per cent more active when given loose materials such as tyres and wooden planks to play with instead of the usual prefabricated playground equipment.

Deakin University education psychologist Helen McGrath said playgrounds were fast becoming “plastic and boring”.

Dr McGrath said big swings, slides and tall climbing frames were almost extinct because of fear of litigation.

“No one is suggesting all-concrete playgrounds, so if a kid falls they split their head open,” Dr McGrath said. “But you don’t need to feel bad if your child has a graze. You teach them that life has its share of falls.”

Suburban mum Kylie Seadon said playgrounds were so safety obsessed they were boring for children, including her daughter, Rhymney, 4.

“And every playground is the same,” she said. “We have ended up with plastic, safe playgrounds with no sense of adventure for the kids.”

Playgrounds and Recreation Association of Victoria executive director Barbara Champion maintained many Victorian playgrounds were innovative and exciting.

“There’s a long way to go in making play environments generally more satisfying for kids, but not at the expense of safety,” she said.

Parents Victoria spokeswoman Gail McHardy said safety had to come first because parents were often unable to take time off work or cover medical costs associated with treating preventable injuries.

“Do you know how much it costs to have teeth repaired? The kids might say we want the risk back, but parents wouldn’t agree,” she said.

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