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Remember when playgrounds were fun? Sure, there was a pretty good chance you'd be scalded by a hot metal slide, or walk away with tetanus, but that's what memories are made of.
At my children's school, there is literally a sign that reads "NO RUNNING ON THE PLAYGROUND". I swear I am not making that up. Plus, they've stripped it of all the "dangerous" playground equipment. There's no merry-go-round, no jungle gym, no monkey bars.... boooooring. My kids literally do not know what a see-saw is.
And it's not just our kids' school. My wife is a teacher and she says it's like this in a lot of places. She doesn't know the last time she's seen a merry-go-round. Kinda sad really.
I remember my school playground had a metal ladder "wall" that I swear went up three stories - it didn't connect to a slide or anything. It was literally a ladder to the sky - I remember thinking the oxygen was thinner at the top. One false move and I'd have been a fleshy colored stain on the asphalt.
Maybe I'm a bad parent, but I'd let my kids play on a slide that wasn't fully encapsulated and made of soft plastic. If they got cut, scraped, burned, or bruised, I'd give them a hug and let them go back to play - it wouldn't be the end of the world for chrissake.
