Published August 12, 2004, in issue 0332 of the Hook

Let me see if I have this right: We have a piece of playground equipment, designed for children, that several parents determine is not age-appropriate for their child to use on their own, so they get on the piece of equipment with the child, the child is injured, and the parents complain that the equipment is unsafe [July 8: "Steep, deep, sticky: One slide, several injured kids"].

This is not a case of unsafe equipment, but rather of unsafe parenting.

Since the article did not mention any injuries to children who used the slide without a parent, one must assume that there have been none. The source of the injury then becomes not the slide, but the presence of the parent on the equipment, a purpose for which the slide was not designed.

Trying to abdicate their culpability in the injury process further focuses the blame on the parent, and their inability to accept responsibility for their actions.

Rollin Stanton
Afton

#

>> Back to The HooK front page