# Pitting the candyasses and suitmongers who are destroying traditional playgrounds **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 11, 2005, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-candyasses-and-suitmongers-who-are-destroying-traditional-playgrounds/325720 "2005-10-11T05:37:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Southpaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@Southpaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southpaw)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-candyasses-and-suitmongers-who-are-destroying-traditional-playgrounds/325720/41 "2005-10-11T15:48:32Z")
> [@](#): > > Kids also learned about physics, science, and math. If walked too close to the swings often enough, you’d get kicked in the head. It hurt like hell and you bled. No one required a refresher on that. We had a game where you tried to run from one end of the swingset to the other and not get kicked in the head by the swingers. The playground at my grade school was all metal, set in asphalt. I don’t think a school year went by without at least one kid breaking a limb. And parents didn’t think of suing the school. After all, if their kid was stupid enough to jump off the top of the monkey bars, he got what he deserved. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-candyasses-and-suitmongers-who-are-destroying-traditional-playgrounds/325720/42 "2005-10-11T15:50:18Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > This is kinda blowing my mind. I recently watched my five year-old nephew - he ran around the yard trying to find something to play with, then he stood in place for a bit and pretty much just vibrated. Kids don’t _want_ to run and play - they _need_ to. Heh. When my nieces were little, we used to play a game. It was called “Let’s see who can sit still and be quiet the longest.” Guess which one won? That’s right. Neither. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-candyasses-and-suitmongers-who-are-destroying-traditional-playgrounds/325720/43 "2005-10-11T15:51:53Z")
British Bulldog: Montreal 1977-1981, more or less. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-candyasses-and-suitmongers-who-are-destroying-traditional-playgrounds/325720/44 "2005-10-11T15:54:33Z")
Actually, to be fair, my father DID do the funeral for a young girl who was killed when a playground slide collapsed while she was playing on it. But I’m guessing that the problem was one of neglect, not playground equipment itself. (I suspect the slide was probably falling apart already) I would complain if the old playground equipment was not kept in good condition-rusty nails sticking out, jagged rusty metal edges, broken down, falling apart, etc. But as long as that’s not the case, the worst hazard would be the big mudpit below the slide. (Damn, that was GREAT on a rainy day-SPLASH!!!) ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-candyasses-and-suitmongers-who-are-destroying-traditional-playgrounds/325720/45 "2005-10-11T16:03:52Z")
I basically agree with the op, but did you all read: > [@Sun-Sentinel.com](#): > > Since 1999, Broward County schools paid out about $561,000 to settle 189 claims for playground accidents, about 5 percent of the amount the district spent on all injury claims in that time. It’s not hard to understand why they’re doing it. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-candyasses-and-suitmongers-who-are-destroying-traditional-playgrounds/325720/46 "2005-10-11T16:10:57Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > It’s all Bush’s fault. > Hey, I just thought I beat the libs to the punch. Wow, 45 posts and no one’s mentioned it at all, except you! You _really_ beat them to the punch, didn’t you? Wow. You must be proud of yourself. Do you want a cookie? A little ice cream? A lolly? Dumbshit. ---
**Author:** ![Velma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/85e7bf/32.png) [@Velma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velma)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-candyasses-and-suitmongers-who-are-destroying-traditional-playgrounds/325720/47 "2005-10-11T16:29:59Z")
I agree that the ‘no running’ rules and such are going too far, but am I the only one who thinks some of the new playground equipment out there is pretty cool? When I was in elementary, we had a few swings, a slide and teeter-totter. Now they have huge tree-house type structures with rope ladders, nets, forts, great big curly slides and climbing walls. Lots of kids have great big wooden forts and swingsets in their own yards, too. I think most kids have it pretty good when it comes to playground equipment. Of course there are those that are going to take it too far. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-candyasses-and-suitmongers-who-are-destroying-traditional-playgrounds/325720/48 "2005-10-11T16:30:06Z")
> [@Troy McClure SF](#): > > Wow, 45 posts and no one’s mentioned it at all, except you! You miss the point. He’s complaining about the dumbshit liberals who come into a thread that has nothing to do with politics and politicizing it. In a dumbass way. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-candyasses-and-suitmongers-who-are-destroying-traditional-playgrounds/325720/49 "2005-10-11T16:46:53Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > You miss the point. Not so much. Yet another, “Hey Group X will certainly come in and complain about this and hijack with their own agenda, no I’ll cleverly pre-emptively counteract them and hijack with my own anti-Group X agenda,” which is followed dy deafening silence by Group X, leaving the original hijacker looking like an abosolute dumbass for 1) hijacking and B) being so perfectly wrong. That about right? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-candyasses-and-suitmongers-who-are-destroying-traditional-playgrounds/325720/50 "2005-10-11T16:50:06Z")
Why don’t we all just ignore **Clothahump’s** post, the way you would ignore a fart at a funeral? (Well, pretend to ignore it, while giggling a little. Or is that just me?) ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-candyasses-and-suitmongers-who-are-destroying-traditional-playgrounds/325720/51 "2005-10-11T16:51:40Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > Why don’t we all just ignore **Clothahump’s** post, the way you would ignore a fart at a funeral? (Well, pretend to ignore it, while giggling a little. Or is that just me?) I dint smell nothin’. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-candyasses-and-suitmongers-who-are-destroying-traditional-playgrounds/325720/52 "2005-10-11T16:52:40Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > It’s all Bush’s fault. Don’t you mean “It’s all the \*trial lawyers’ \* fault”? You had a great chance to take a whack at a standard GOP boogeyman, to a receptive audience even, and you blew it so badly it backfired. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-candyasses-and-suitmongers-who-are-destroying-traditional-playgrounds/325720/53 "2005-10-11T17:17:34Z")
> [@coop](#): > > We played a similar game at my school but it was called “British Bulldog”. That’s what we called it in Australia too. No ball involved; just lots of pummelling. ---
**Author:** ![Craneop2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Craneop2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Craneop2)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-candyasses-and-suitmongers-who-are-destroying-traditional-playgrounds/325720/54 "2005-10-11T17:25:57Z")
There is an elementary school accross the street from my house. On the playground there are some plastic structures. I’m guessing they are playground equipment. This plastic structure is surrounded by a square area of what seems to be balsa wood chips. I have never even observed the supervising adults to even allow a ball to be introduced into the play area. To tell ya the truth I probably learned as much on the playground when I was growing up as I did in the class room. I learned about safety, teamwork and a LOT about social interaction on the playground. You can’t really teach that in a foam rubber play area. To me it all started going downhill when they allowed the TOUGH… SMART lawyers began advertising on tV that they could make you independently wealthy with proceeds from law suits. Just my $0.02 ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-candyasses-and-suitmongers-who-are-destroying-traditional-playgrounds/325720/55 "2005-10-11T17:40:12Z")
> [@coop](#): > > We played a similar game at my school but it was called “British Bulldog”. > When you were in the middle you didn’t call out anyone’s name, everyone just ran straight across and you tried to catch at least one person. We played that but it was called Sharks and Minnows. Oh and we played it in the pool. So add possbile drowning, slipping on sides as you scramble out and the fact that you have nearly naked kids grabbing other nearly naked kids underwater. Good times, good times. ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-candyasses-and-suitmongers-who-are-destroying-traditional-playgrounds/325720/56 "2005-10-11T17:52:01Z")
> [@Wolfian](#): > > : Tosses **Clothahump** a ball. : > > SMEAR THE ASSHAT! **ASSAULT** THE ASSHAT!!! ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-candyasses-and-suitmongers-who-are-destroying-traditional-playgrounds/325720/57 "2005-10-11T18:27:08Z")
We played a lot of Red Rover, which is similar to some of the games mentioned. And we had the thing called the witch’s hat which resulted in a lot of smashed fingers and knees. Ah, great stuff. Oh, and my cousin Dominic froze his lips to the monkey bars. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-candyasses-and-suitmongers-who-are-destroying-traditional-playgrounds/325720/58 "2005-10-11T18:27:37Z")
[Human-sized hamster balls](http://www.zorb.com/)! ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-candyasses-and-suitmongers-who-are-destroying-traditional-playgrounds/325720/59 "2005-10-11T18:29:31Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > We played that but it was called Sharks and Minnows. Oh and we played it in the pool. So add possbile drowning, slipping on sides as you scramble out and the fact that you have nearly naked kids grabbing other nearly naked kids underwater. > > Good times, good times. We played Sharks and Minnows, too, but since you had to pull someone up to the surface to “catch” them, chances of drowning are minimized. We never got out of the pool, though. Just swim from one end to the other. Worst case scenario was that you inhaled some water and the guy grabbing you hauled you up for air. Actually, the _worst_ case scenario was playing it in a coed environment and having to sacrifice your swimsuit to a Shark with an iron grip. Luckily, that never happened to me. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-candyasses-and-suitmongers-who-are-destroying-traditional-playgrounds/325720/60 "2005-10-11T18:53:14Z")
I must be the worst Dad in the world, I just finished building a seesaw for my kids and they love it. You see very few playgrounds with seesaws anymore. I built it out of a 12’ plank of wood and scraps of 2x4. The Base is painted Red and the blank is Stained and Polyurethaned. It is only 2’ high, but I can easily raise it higher as they get older. I used 9” lengths of wood 1” Dowel for the handled. The design is inspired by an example of an 1800’s seesaw I saw at the Eerie Canal. I am trying very hard to not blame the lawyers, but darn it why can’t we cut down on the stupid liability lawsuits. Parents should not have any hope of winning playground lawsuits unless they can prove some form of gross negligence. Kids get hurt; don’t punish all kids because of this. I am sure this will somehow offend the “Think of the Kids” people and some trial lawyers. I will apologize if it offends you but I do believe in what I am saying. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-candyasses-and-suitmongers-who-are-destroying-traditional-playgrounds/325720.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-candyasses-and-suitmongers-who-are-destroying-traditional-playgrounds/325720.md?page=4)