Two for Friday! 3/27

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Permalink Reply by Stephanie V. on March 27, 2009 at 10:36am

It is absolutely their responsibility to make sure their playgrounds are safe! They are using it as a profit making lure and as such hold liability. Personally, I try to stay away from these places (yes, I know, can't always be avoided) but bottom line, they have always scared me as a mother.

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Permalink Reply by Kate on March 27, 2009 at 11:02am

Parents are responsible for the safety of their children. I took my child to a indoor playground a week ago and we left after 10 minutes. I thought it was dangerous and the other children playing were not being supervised. I had to tell a girl not to climb up the outside of it, and her babysitter was 10 feet away not paying attention. After several close calls of my child being crushed by the other kids and the fact I had to try to climb up into that thing, we left. We went home, blew up the bounce house and bounced all night! (Best purchase ever) Bottom line, the indoor playgrounds are really dangerous, but parents are ultimately responsible for their children's safety!

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Permalink Reply by Deb Hartigan on March 27, 2009 at 11:10am

If all of the playground equipment is properly installed then I feel all the responsibility is the parents. I have been at numerous playgrounds such as these and half the time the parents are inside eating or sitting there talking with other parents and not watching their children at all. Often I've witnessed children climbing on the netting and support poles, which are clearly not part of the play area, and the parents just watch them and remain silent, or haven't a clue what they are doing. It was a terrible accident that happened to this child but I put a lot of the blame on the father. I know things happen quickly but from the story it sounded as if he was up the pole and then lost his grip. Why was he allowed to climb it in the first place. As soon as this little boy touched that support pole and started to wrap his leg around it to climb his father should have stopped him immediately. When it comes to children parents have to be proactive.

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Permalink Reply by TMR on March 27, 2009 at 11:59am

Good example Kate! Sophie loved bouncing with Ruby :). That playground was a joke, and yes keeping kids safe is up to us the parents. Thank goodness for the bounce house!
Kate said:

Parents are responsible for the safety of their children. I took my child to a indoor playground a week ago and we left after 10 minutes. I thought it was dangerous and the other children playing were not being supervised. I had to tell a girl not to climb up the outside of it, and her babysitter was 10 feet away not paying attention. After several close calls of my child being crushed by the other kids and the fact I had to try to climb up into that thing, we left. We went home, blew up the bounce house and bounced all night! (Best purchase ever) Bottom line, the indoor playgrounds are really dangerous, but parents are ultimately responsible for their children's safety!

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Permalink Reply by Momatron5000 on March 27, 2009 at 12:01pm

This needs to be a dual effort--fast food restaurants and the like need to make sure that their equipment is absolutely safe--they are gearing it towards children, so it needs to be honestly safe. THAT being said, I can not stress enough that parents need to supervise their children, no matter their age. Playscapes are not babysitters, so parents need to make sure that their kids are okay.

Now, THAT being said:

Even if the parents were watching this boy, I think his fall was unavoidable, and the end result would have happened anyway. So yeah, it has to be a dual effort.

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Permalink Reply by Kim Allmon on March 27, 2009 at 12:02pm

It should be in the restaurant's best interest to have their playgrounds up to code and to adhere to the safety guidelines. But, having said that - it is the ultimate responsibility of the parents to watch their children and to know what your child is capable of and to also follow the posted safety rules. My boys are both grown now and during their childhood years, indoor playgrounds were popular and attracted a lot of children of varying ages. I never really liked them from the standpoint of a sanitary standpoint - especially the ball area. Most of the indoor playgrounds around here have torn down their playgrounds (I dont' know if it was due to safety concerns or due to the fact that they discovered they can increase business buy having a coffee cafe lounge feel instead - complete with fireplace, flatpanel TVs and internet access).

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Permalink Reply by Heather on March 27, 2009 at 12:11pm

Wow, I usually steer clear of those kinds of stories. While my heart aches for families that suffer serious injuries I think it is the parent who is ultimately responsible for their children. Personally, I do not take my kids to play on fast food play lands because they are a cess pool of bacteria and we avoid fast foods.

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Permalink Reply by Lou on March 27, 2009 at 12:45pm

When my son was small I tried to stay away from places like this and sometimes I wouldn't even let him go into the play area because there were too many kids or the parents weren't watching them. I feel bad for this family, but I do think the parents are responsible for the safety of their own children as long as these franchises keep up the safety of their equpment. I remember so many times the parents would be doing their own thing like eating, talking and not even watching their children and either some would seem bullyish toward the others or some of the children were actually too big to start with to be playing in these playgrounds. Normally I would finally just get my son and leave because I have this thing about germs anyway and I thought it was unsanitary anyway. Sometimes I was just apalled at the way these parents acted, like they just didn't care what their children were doing, they could have been swinging on the bars like monkeys and yelling and these parents didn't look at them or even give it a second thought to check on their own children.

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Permalink Reply by jeanine peterson on March 27, 2009 at 2:32pm

Parents are responsible for their children ultimately. However, if a company is going to have a playground they need to make sure their facility is safe. I've always avoided the ball pits for fear of snakes and the unseen items below it ;)

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Permalink Reply by saschab on March 27, 2009 at 4:07pm

It's a dual effort, but ultimately the parent's responsibility to keep our children safe. I will never forget checking a ball pit in a local fast food restaurant before allowing my son in, only to find feces smeared all over many of the balls. It appears that a child lost a diaper and the embarrassed parent just left without informing anyone. Who knows how long it had been in there. When I informed staff, they took their sweet time closing it down. Who knows when and how well the play area was sanitized afterward. Needless to say, that was the last time I'd allow my children to play in these areas. I'm not weird about germs, but that was just too much to stomach. Never again... Unfortunately, what that meant is that I didn't patronize that restaurant ever again. They lost my spending dollars.

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Permalink Reply by Carla Pullum on March 27, 2009 at 4:13pm

I think it's the parent who should be responsible. I was at the park with my daughter and there were 3 unsupervised kids climbing above the swings. Their legs hitting other kids in the head. I always watch my daughter when she plays on the playground. I won't let my daughter play in indoor playgrounds though. She has been trampled on and hurt. Some of the kids are to big for that environment.

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Permalink Reply by BuSy...MaMMa on March 27, 2009 at 5:36pm

I agree Kate, if the play area is unsafe then get the heck out of there, we nned to have common sense as parents to know whats safe and whats not. Kids are Kids and there will always be accidents but if we take them to dangerous play areas, then we are just setting up our kids to get hurt!! I think parents are responsible for the kids safety!!!

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