Adults often have fond memories of the playground days of youth — hanging upside down from monkey bars, swinging high on a fine summer afternoon, or even warily eyeing the distance to the ground before whooshing down the “big slide.”
But despite the joys in remembering simpler times, playgrounds were and remain fairly dangerous to children.
Certainly, there have been improvements over the years to the designs of equipment installed on newer playgrounds. For instance, many playgrounds now are required to use padding like mulch, sand, wood chips or other soft materials under the equipment to cushion the kids’ inevitable falls.
Regardless, the statistics involving playground injuries to children remain worrisome. For instance, did you know that:
- Annually in America, over 200,000 kids under 15 get treated in emergency rooms after getting hurt on playgrounds.
- Of that total, more than 10 percent get treatment for traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), a diagnosis that includes concussions.
- The vast majority (75 percent) of children who suffer injuries on the equipment that’s installed on public playgrounds like those commonly found on school grounds and municipal parks.
- Over half of the playground injuries to kids that ER doctors treat are broken bones, abrasions and contusions.
Despite the addition of safety features like padded material, safety breaches still occur. In recent years, there has been an uptick in the number of kids who sought treatment at ERs for TBIs that occurred on playgrounds.
Nearly two-thirds of these injuries happened while the kids were playing either at schools or public parks. Many occurred on swings, monkey bars or climbing equipment.
To reduce the risk of serious injuries, children should not be allowed to play on equipment that is in disrepair, including having rusted components. But despite warnings to children from vigilant parents, accidents that cause severe, and even fatal, injuries still occur on America’s playgrounds.
We understand how traumatic a serious playground injury can be and can help you pursue justice and compensation for your child.
