Germany is building risk into its playgrounds | Hacker News Reader

Germany is building risk into its playgrounds

theguardian.com

33 pointssamizdis6 comments

I found the photography on the Guardian article not so great; thankfully the manufacturer has better pictures:

https://berliner-seilfabrik.com/en/product/triitopia-02/

I'm a little envious. On my german playground in the 80s we had a simply pyramid-like structure like this. A little bit more risky, but in its pure geometry a little bit boring after you conquered the top.

https://berliner-seilfabrik.com/en/productgroup/polygodes/

(Another vivid memory of my playground in the eighties in Germany was that time when the sandpit was first closed and then the sand was replaced: slight fallout from Chernobyl. Possibly an overreaction in retrospect, southern Bavaria was more hit than we in western Germany. But still one of my first memories about world happenings.)

Risk never went away on playgrounds here in Spain including rope towers like they mention here. What is an example of a risk free playground?

I think the English speaking world is rather an exception in making overly safe playground, judging also by my experiences in Japan as well as Switzerland. There really are quite different cultures around how to raise children and keep them safe. In Japan it’s all about the community looking out for each other and their children. In Switzerland it’s teaching them responsibility as early as possible - e.g. it’s normal and encouraged to send 5yo kids to Kindergarden on their own, with appropriate training on how to cross streets etc. I guess in the US/UK it’s regulations and constant supervision by parents well into teen years?

>> I guess in the US/UK it’s regulations and constant supervision by parents well into teen years?

Speaking from the UK... not really. Well, there are regulations, for example it's illegal to hit a child, but broadly you are free to allow the risks you feel appropriate.

What they are tends to be quite specific to location e.g. rural vs urban. Constant supervision would be unusual for teens.

I actually disagree with your main point, and see more similarities than differences across cultures!

Maybe that part is only relevant to the US then? Afaik. many states have laws to require constant supervision till 12yo and people sometimes even get into trouble leaving kids playing in their own back yard.

It seems similar to chaos monkey in a way and to antifragile systems in general. If a system is never subjected to risk, as soon as some is introduced unintentionally, it leads to catastrophical failures.

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