The Growing Problem of Risk-Averse Childhood Playgrounds

• In Event: Playtime Politics: The Rapidly Growing Mismatch Between Biology and Culture

Abstract

The hallmark of evolutionary politics has been the ever-rising legal standards for health and safety of citizens. In most recent years, the increased regulation of childhood playgrounds has produced successive generations of safety conscious, risk-averse adults. As risk-aversion increases, so does the power of government to protect us from ourselves. Are there any objective standards for acceptable childhood risk-taking, or have public and/or private playgrounds, already, become so safety conscious, that they are no longer attractive to venues for child play? What, if anything, can be done to restore, at least a modicum of playground risk-taking?

Author

• David F Vanderburgh, Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation