Playground & Child Safety Articles:

This is material collected by CELOS researchers about playgrounds and their turf struggles. The story is ongoing.(Media articles about playgrounds and child safety)

1992

• Toronto Star:Why didn't they do something, 1992
• Toronto Star: North York mayor wants study to improve playground safety, 1992
• The Gazette (Montreal) Play Can Be Peril, 1992

1993

• Toronto Star: Soft Surface Can Prevent Injuries, 1993
• Toronto Star: Play it Safe, 1993.
• Toronto Star: Playground safety of kids' clothes to be examined, 1993.
• Toronto Star: North York swings into action, 1993.

1995

• Toronto Star: Loose Clothing Can Get Snagged, 1995
• Toronto Star: Giving our kids a safe place to play, 1995.
• Toronro Star: Playgrounds need critical safety repairs, 1995
• Toronto Star: Can't be too careful with safety of children Tot's death called `sobering reminder, 1995
• The Hamilton Spectator: Dangerous Playground Structures Will Be Replaced, 1995
• The Hamilton Spectator: Playing The 'Park' Game With City Hall, 1995

1996

• Toronto Star: Day-care staff need cell phones jury urges, 1996
• Toronto Star: Skipping rope death puts focus on child care safety, 1996

1997

• The Hamilton Spectator: Education Goes On Near Plastimet, 1997

1998

• The Hamilton Spectator: Safety Concerns About Playground Equipment,1998
• The Globe and Mail: Lastman Calls For Safer Play Areas, 1998
• Winnipeg Free Press: Parental Vigilance Urged On Playgrounds, 1998
• The Hamilton Spectator: Playground Dream Now Reality, 1998
• Toronto Star: Playground Safety Tips, 1998
• The Hamilton Spectator: Kids Playgrounds Not All Fun, 1998
• Toronto Star: Safety More Than Just Child's Play, 1998
• The Hamilton Spectator: Playgrounds Below Standard, 1998
• The Hamilton Spectator:Good Samaritan Saves Boy's Life, 1998
• The Edmonton Journal Vigilant adults still required; Safer Playgrounds; CHECKLIST, 1998
• Berkeley Partners for Parks, No More Cookie Cutter Parks, 1998

1999

• Toronto Star: Province May Fund Playground Work, 1999
• Toronto Star: City Targets Minister In Playground Dispute, 1999
• The Hamilton Spectator: Renewed Playground Sparks Party, 1999
• Winnipeg Free Press: Child Loses Toe On City Park Slide, 1999
• Winnipeg Free Press: Danger Play, 1999

2000

• Toronto Playgrounds News, 2000
• Taddle Creek The Playground War, By Alfred Holden 2000
• Plastics Machining & Fabricating: GameTime Molding Childhoods Through Play, March 2000.

2004

• National Recreation and Park Association: Protecting Your Playgrounds, 2004

2005

• Media Watch 2005
• Press Release from Information and Privacy Commissioner about release of lawsuit information (2005)
• Media coverage of lawsuit information released by the Information and Privacy Commissioner (2005)

2008

• Inside Toronto Parents don't want change at their local playground
• Daily Mail 25% of 10-year-olds are never allowed to play on their own.., 2008
• Eye Weekly Squarion off, 2008
• Inside Toronto City staff seeking shady spots, 2008
• The Star With no swings, city park has lost its last bit of fun, 2008

2009

• The Globe and Mail : Good vibrations: March 21, 2009.
• Toronto Star: Dissent rains on Noah's Ark playgrounds, May 28, 2009, Comments on this article
• Taddle Creek Magazine. The Paper Pompeii by Alfred Holden. A great article about kids who built a cardboard city, over years.
• The Star:Parks win with donor largesse
• Science Daily Sand Playground Surfaces Reduce Risk of Arm Fractures from Falls, Study Shows, December 15, 2009.

2010

• mytowncrier.ca: Greenwood Park: under too much water, March 17, 2010.
• Thorncliffe Park: strange tale of two playgrounds:Porter: Playground politics are unfairJuly 10, 2010.
• Inside Toronto: The car is not an option, expert says, July 22, 2010.

2011

• New York Times, Can a Playground be too Safe? July 19 2011
• The star: Business plan pitched to save Riverdale Farm, September 19, 2011
• New Zealand article about school playgrounds with no rules, no equipment except for trees and junk
• video of the same New Zealand playground

2012

• CBC Radio interview, Nov.28, 2012 Are Playgrounds too Safe?

2013

• Kingston Whig-Standard, Mary 10, 2013: Hard Truths about Playgrounds:

While wood fibre is considered both safe and economical (it's more expensive than pea gravel, but cheaper than rubber), it did not receive a high rating in a 2003 study involving 37 new play structures installed by schools in the Toronto District School Board.

The report, “School playground surfacing and arm fractures in children: A cluster randomized trial comparing sand to wood chip surfaces,” found that out of 259 injuries, 44 were upper extremity fractures.

And while a sand base showed an arm-fracture rate of 1.9 per 100,000 students, the wood chip statistics were five times higher, at 9.4 arm fractures per 100,000 students.

For all injuries, the rate for sand was 7.3 per 100,000 students; for the wood fibre it was about three and a half times greater at 25.3 per 100,000.

2016

• CBC News May 2, 2016 "Concussions, brain injuries from playground mishaps on the rise"
• Pediatrics, May 2016 Nonfatal Playground-Related Traumatic Brain Injuries Among Children, 2001–2013

2018

http://www.studioludo.org/london-study-of-playgrounds https://medium.com/sidewalk-talk/why-europes-parks-and-playgrounds-are-so-much-more-active-than-america-s-d1963d569205 https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/10/world/europe/britain-playgrounds-risk.html

Additional

• U.S. media watch of recreation liability - Link broken
• Playground-Safety Articles

British Articles

• RSA Risk commission NOT 'a risk averse society'
• Child accidents prevention trust Urban myths about children's playgrounds
• National Children's Bureau Managing risk in play provision
• Play Today Magazine, issue 60, 2007
• The Guardian Reclaiming the streets (2006)
• Joseph Powntree Foundation Facilitating play on housing estates (1997).
• Fair Play for Children Stop Blaming Parents! (2008)
• David Ball, Tim Gill and Bernard Spiegal Managing Risk in Play Provision. Play England, 2008

Content last modified on April 20, 2018, at 04:41 PM EST