Helicopter Parents Make Playgrounds Boring – Slyde the Playground Hound Can Help

Here are two terms you won’t find in a modern dictionary; Helicopter Parents and Overparenting. But, lately these words have slipped their way into our culture to describe the behavior of well-meaning parents whose protective nature is overdone. As if there are “hidden dangers” lurking around every corner, helicopter parents hover over their child ready to swoop into action at the first sign of potential threat.  

Whether overbearing, overly protective parents got that way by watching too much television or reading the news that habitually bombards us with the many perceived perils faced by families in today’s society is not what this article is about. The idea that overparenting behavior can actually pose a threat to a child’s health and sense of well-being is the kind of danger we hope to expose in the next few paragraphs. 

In an article reported by Time Magazine entitled The Growing Backlash Against Overparenting, it states, “. . . the percentage of kids walking or biking to school dropped from 41% in 1969 to 13% in 2001.” One can only assume this statistic is not due to a child’s inability to ride a bicycle. To read the full article, visit http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1940697,00.html

Statistics in support of overparenting are nowhere to be found.  On the contrary, from 1981 to 1997, “death by injury has dropped 50% for 6 to 8 year-olds.” However, during that same time period, free playtime dropped by 25% and homework more than doubled for the same age group.

This begs the question: are there fewer play-related injuries because parents and caregivers are standing guard between their child and a real or imagined threat? Or, has overparenting caused parents to allow their children less unstructured free play-time resulting in fewer play-related injuries because there are fewer children actually playing?

While asking such questions may be an over simplification of what we might perceive to be the root cause (social behaviors rarely have one cause), we can make some general assumptions about overparenting by looking first at the “why” behind the drastic drop in play injuries from 1981 to 1997.

The first release of public playground safety guidelines was issued by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission in, coincidentally, 1981. Increased public awareness to the potential hazards, from a pinched finger requiring a kiss to a “boo-boo” to make it better, to a broken wrist resulting in a visit to an emergency room, started a pendulum swinging towards greater safety for public playgrounds. To print the entire Handbook for Public Playground Safety, visit http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/325.pdf .

Some stakeholders, such as play equipment manufacturers, parents, educators, park directors, risk managers of public facilities, and others concerned about children’s health and safety, took extreme measures to remove any potential hazards to try to insure that playground equipment was safe without fail, so no child would get injured.

While the intention is worthy, what proponents of a zero tolerance to normal risk inherent to the use of a piece of playground equipment don’t recognize is that to make an injury-free playground is to make a BORING playground.

Fortunately for the children’s sake, the 21st century has the pendulum swinging back again in favor of fun. You can find towering nets, some towering thirty-feet high. There are triple-tier towers where children can pretend to be astronauts. And, there are even swings designed for the user to actually stand up and balance while swinging. Imagine, allowing a child to “stand” while swinging!

According to an article from The Play & Playground Encyclopedia entitled Risk Taking: “Children love a challenge. They enjoy the sense of mastery over their body and its emotions, especially fear.” http://www.pgpedia.com/r/risk-taking.

If the proper way to slide down a slide is from the top to the bottom, feet first; leave it to a child to try climbing from the bottom to the top, or going head first, or running on it instead of sitting down. You can’t stop children from taking risks, and according to Risk Taking by The Play & Playground Encyclopedia™, most children will naturally regulate their exposure to what they perceive as risk without the assistance of a grownup.

Conversely, overparenting behavior on the part of an adult can squelch a child’s natural and inherent ability to make judgments about their own capabilities which can actually result in an injury. So, what’s a parent to do?

Adults will often appeal to an authority to make their case for safety with the children they care about. This can be an effective way to relegate safety awareness if the authority is legitimate, for example Smokey Bear for fire safety, or Slyde the Playground Hound for playground safety.

Children need positive role models (not hovering parents) that exhibit healthy living while communicating safe behaviors. When used in their respective settings, iconic examples of “safety first” can free parents from the need to exhibit overbearing behavior that may be counter-productive.

Still concerned about children’s behavior that may lead to injury? Check out child playground safety awareness, Slyde style. http://www.playgroundhound.com/comics/listen-adults-and-teachers