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Comment by 1970-01-01 | Hacker News Reader

1970-01-01

The hidden costs are in the ER visits

My parents dug a hole in the ground for a trampoline, so it was flush with the ground. It was great because you couldn't accidentally fall off, and it was safer than doing any given stunt on regular ground.

A great idea but it's not the main cause of kids at ER because of trampolines: the main issue is two kids hitting each other, not one kid falling of the trampoline. Say the head of one kid hitting the jaw of the other kid. That's the main issue (my source is a doctor friend who worked at ER and refused to have a trampoline for his kids).

So I came up with a very simple rule: one kid at a time in the trampoline and I were to see two, I'd disassemble the trampoline (and as the kid saw me assembling it, she knew I meant business).

But yup a hole in the ground to lower it sounds like a good idea too: that and a rule of one kid at a time.

A trampoline can be endless fun for kids. I got one for free from my neighbor (who was very happy to get rid of it) and a few years later I ended up giving it away when I moved.

Interesting. It's probably why every single trampoline my wife and myself ever saw (and she previously worked in a place that, every May, pivoted from their furniture business to importing and selling trampolines for the May break seasons), had a label saying only one kid is allowed at a time.

Though obviously this is CYA, because same label exists on trampolines sized for 1 kid and those sized for 10 kids.

Also honestly jumping alone is not as fun as jumping in a group.

That's why I compared it to a similar stunt on regular ground. That kind of horseplay wasn't allowed in my household, or really anything we were into as children, so my parents could let several of us play on the trampoline at a time, although they had to be more careful if we had someone over.

hmmm... that reminds me of a conversation I had with a friend about pools.

I thought "don't get a pool because kids drown in them all the time."

My friend told me that kids actually drown in the grandparents' pool, not their home pool.

(?)

How did it not flood?

The lot was graded in 70's or 80's, which was late enough to have modern drainage as part of the design. In their neighborhood, most houses are graded at several feet higher than the sidewalk gutter, so the trampoline just needed a regular drain pipe to bring the storm runoff to the front of the property.

They did later add a sump pump, because most of the years rain happens over a small number of very wet storms, and it can take a while to gravity drain out several inches of rain we'll often get in a single storm. (Our record from before they had the trampoline was 12 inches of rain in just over 24 hours, but that was an especially strong El Niño year, but we'll probably be getting another one soon.)

Maybe they live in a place with little rain?

Or your home insurance company dropping your coverage because you didn't declare the trampoline yet they found it while surveying aerial imagery

That's the absolute best possible outcome... The more severe risk is where a neighborhood child gets severely injured and then the liability policy/coverage you were relying on as a homeowner is invalidated because you failed to disclose the trampoline (which is one of the things they typically ask for). Now you are stuck with legal + medical bills which will likely bankrupt you and/or cost you that house.

Same with pitbulls. Like "neat you hid it from your insurance company, boy you sure showed them!" They are going to be so super sad to cash all of your premium checks for years and THEN pay out $0 on the liability claim when fido rips a kids face off.

Almost everyone I knew who broke a bone growing up broke them on a trampoline. As an adult, every story I've heard involving someone's kids and a trampoline ended up involving a cast at best.

... And yet. I wonder. I can remember the feeling of freedom and joy in my body as a child, joy in movement itself that I have never recaptured in any meaningful way no matter how I ever tried to motivate myself to exercise...

Swimming is also dangerous, but is considered a very healthy and useful activity and skill. I could see a similar cost/benefit analysis for trampolines and other gymnastic equipment.

Backyard trampolines without nets are particularly dangerous. A gymnasium or trampoline park with in-ground trampolines are my go-to if someone wants to learn how to do tricks.

Swimming is not dangerous. Not being able to swim or being a weak swimmer is dangerous. Open water is also more dangerous in various different ways.

You can take trampolining lessons and to experience that feeling in a much safer environment. Much more expensive though.

Any sort of gymnastics practice, even without a trampoline, gives you a very similar feeling.

Have you tried lifting weights? That freedom of movement is what it feels like to have a higher strength-to-weight ratio.

You can get there surprisingly quickly and casually if you haven't lifted weights in a long time or ever.

Came here to say something similar.

I'm someone who suffers from major reluctance to exercise. To be more specific - the first thirty minutes of exercise are hell, always. Doesn't matter how long I've been doing an activity. It feels like the first time. Exhaustion, fatigue whatever.

This basically means stuff like jogging is out, since it takes so long to get over the hump each time my motivation to do it can't be maintained.

Recently (in my late forties), inspired by some friends who go regularly, I've started attending a weight lifting centred gym near my house.

The cardio I do at the beginning and end of each workout is still hell. But the weight lifting itself really is quite freeing, and it's wonderful to see your strength go (gradually up). It's great also to discover my legs are much stronger than I'd have expected (after years of riding a fixie), despite my arms being flimsy noodles.

Eh, I knew kids (including myself) who broke bones in all sorts of other ways besides trampolines.

However, everyone I know who had a trampoline did break a bone on it.

Some of those ended in permanent, life long injuries. It isn't always just a few months in a cast.

Swimming has more deaths than trampolines do, but not nearly as many serious injuries.

Work in ER, can confirm

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