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In contrast to the modern trend of helicopter parenting and safety-first playgrounds, one school in New Zealand has decided to completely do away with rules during recess playtime to great effect. They aren't alone in this reversal, some of which can be justified by a study showing that children who injured themselves by falling from heights grow up to be less fearful of heights than those who weren't hurt.
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New Zealand School Tries Recess With No Rules
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The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
Q: How do you keep a moron in suspense?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by MostCynical on Friday June 13 2014, @11:14AM
I'd go further: parents' irrational fears.
Mainly derived from tabloid fear-mongering and the "sue them" culture.
The poor kids in modern society watch more tv (and other screen time)* AND spend more time indoors* (back yards: SO twentieth-century!)
When I was at school (not that many decades ago), a plaster cast on an arm or leg was common enough that we had developed particular preferences for where we would try and write on the cast - a joy lost now to fibreglass and other modern technology, as well as to the fact that ther just aren't as many kids with broken limbs these days.
Risk? No, the insurers and actuaries removed it.
On a side note: has "sue them" become the new "burn her"?
*google it yourself
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 3, Informative) by Adrian Harvey on Friday June 13 2014, @05:44PM
I should point out here that the article is about New Zealand and there is no 'sue them' culture there. Because you can't. The right to sue for things like playground accidents was abolished long ago and replaced with a government run accident compensation / rehabilitation scheme called ACC. ACC levies employers, employees and other things (like petrol) and fund and support medical expenses, rehab, etc. They obviously work to keep unsafe things in check too, and levies also vary with risk, so H&S is just as important as anywhere. But it's not driven by fear of being sued...