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Nightmare Playgrounds

The first memory I have of being afraid was when my mother dropped me into the deep end of the outdoor swimming pool in Hoylake when I was about 2. I could not swim, it was murky, there were a lot of people in it and the grill in the wall sucked me to it along with a load of slimy seaweed.

Then I got smacked for running away after a man lifted me out!

I still don't like swimming pools :eek!!!!:
 
Thing is, I know the swimming pool you speak of, there.

Mind you, Hoylake is an eerie place. Lovecraftian.

Back on topic! Kids like being scared. Part of the contract they sign to be kids. They like skelingtons and witches and monsters in the wardrobe. Those of us who have omitted to grow up still do.

I don't think grimacing apes' heads on a swing will desensitise anyone. Here's a simple experiment: Gather a group of 8 to 10 year olds and have them sit through The Nightmare Before Christmas and The Corpse Bride. Then, when they have squirmed and giggled and gone 'ugh', read them selections from Primo Levi; I am sure the account of survival is Auschwitz-Birkenau will have an undiminished impact, and that they are well capable of drawing a distinction between the carnivaleque and real horror.

Shock Headed Peter and The Periodic Table are not commensurate; I think GothGirl's error is in conflating the two. There is a world of difference between Jack Skelington and the dead of Dachau. It is as well that children encounter the former before the latter.

I guess the whole thing revolves around why we feel the need to invent monsters when there is so much tangible evil in the world. It seems all cultures indulge in this, and it seems to come naturally to children of all backgrounds.
 
tilly50 said:
.....my mother dropped me into the deep end of the outdoor swimming pool in Hoylake when I was about 2. I could not swim...
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Ummmm, why did she do that?
 
I guess the whole thing revolves around why we feel the need to invent monsters when there is so much tangible evil in the world. It seems all cultures indulge in this, and it seems to come naturally to children of all backgrounds.
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i agree. it's important that children learn the difference between what's scary and safe and what's scary and unsafe...
 
I would like to think that it was an accident, but she always maintained that it was how she was taught to swim by her father. All her side of the family could swim like fish, I was a grave disappointment :oops:
 
tilly50 said:
....she always maintained that it was how she was taught to swim by her father. All her side of the family could swim like fish....
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Yes, but they'd be the ones that got past the first swimming lesson though... :shock:
 
in reply to tilly why would your mum do something like that, it's not very nice of her,

and this is the sort of thing i was on about with these playground's, their parents take them there and expect them not be afraid or think something bad will happen,

some people when they grow up will be strong enough to turn it around to something positive, but ask yourself what happens to the ones that cant how do you think it will affect them?

not in a good way
 
A. Throwing a kid into the deep end of a pool is not the same as taking them to a spooky playground.

And B. From what I can tell of her/him/it, Tilly doesn't seem any more fucked up than the rest of us, so they're probably not the best example if you want to make that point.
 
I presume that parents take their kids to these playgrounds because there's nowhere else to take them. Judging from their state of repair, they serve poor neighborhoods with no tax base. If you live in a block of apartments with no play spaces, and these crappy playgrounds are the only open spaces around, then that's where you take your kids so they get fresh air and exercise. And the play equipment is probably not particularly scary to them compared to the crack house on the corner or the gangbangers on the stairs.

"Protecting children from frightening things" is a common desire, but it isn't practical and it isn't good for them. Children are little learning dynamos, and one of the things they'll learn if adults let them is to cope with being afraid. Ditto "confusing ideas." If there's one person I don't want to have to deal with, it's an adult who was raised on simplicities and certainties in this complex, uncertain world. He won't have had a chance to learn to think.

Besides, reactions are individual and cannot reliably be predicted. To assume "my reaction is valid; therefore, a reaction that differs much from mine is invalid" is to create a false dichotomy and to disrespect all outlooks but one's own. I was struck with the beauty of the olive oil and crumbs on my plate at lunch; the underwater sequence in Fantasia seems sinister to me; I often find clowns sad, but never scary. These are valid reactions, but I would not argue that someon who sees a mess on my plate, finds the animated sequence in question beautiful, and is frightened of clowns is "wrong."

Children, like everyone else, must be allowed to have their own reactions, and the adults in their lives must then respond as needed to those reactions. If you assume that the child will have a certain response, and pre-emptively act to prevent them from what you assume will be negative experiences, you never get to know the child and the child never gets to know the world he lives in.
 
Some of those...things... are highly reminiscent of those weird sculptures featured in Beetlejuice.
 
in reply to ignatiusII: i agree these sculptures do look very similar to the ones in beetle juice especially the ones that woman (cant quiet remember the name), anyhow her sculptures along with the ones beetlejuice himslef created in a manner of speaking were pretty odd looking, confusing and scary.

in reply to peniG: when you put it like that with the gangs and the violence i would rather take on the playground, but i also think more should be done to help the less wealthy areas get better facilities for children whether its council or private related everyone deserves a chance
 
Hell yeah. I wonder how many of those playgrounds have nails poking out of the sides and syringes hiding in the woo chips at the bottom?

On a totally OT note. Has onlyone else thought that putting wood chips undernath playground equipment is the equivalent of crushed glass under a water slide? They started whacking it under parks when I was just getting too old for them but honestly, if I was that age I'd rather the brutal concrete I had when I was little than that stuff. At least concrete doesn't lodge in your knee and stay there
 
For the longest time, as we watched our old childhood park become newer, safer, padded-corner-bearing, plastic monstrosities, my friends and I have questioned the need for woodchips, of all things.

Now my early parks and playground were made of steel imbedded in concrete and asphalt. Next came wood and steel, a versatile combination indeed, the base of which was all covered with at least 6 inches of sand. This provided cushioning and, if we were already bored of the equipment, no end of fun.

How did someone come along and say,"Well, sand is safe, but it's just not safe enough....I know, Wood Chips!"?

I've never gotten sand in my eyes...I have, however, gotten raked fore and aft by the woodchips at my old playground resulting in stitches and many hours with someone holding a tweezers behind me. (This was due to my attempt at hanging backwards off a tractor-tire-swing whilst it was approaching the ground and not being able to get vertical quick enough...sssscccccrrrrraaaaaappppeeee!)

*Sigh.* Those were the days.
 
Somewhere for kids to play football, no matter how small and some swings.
 
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