Cabell Co WV Schools Removing Swing Sets

[The Interpreter]

Due to lawsuits and insurance costs:

http://www.herald-dispatch.com/news/bri ... ing-swings

[CoolBreeze]

First they removed the "monkey bars" (which most were removed years ago) . Then they removed the old metal slides (remember them?) Then they covered the playground in mulch or smelly rubber so the precious darlings wouldn't scrape their knees. Now it's removing ANYTHING that the kid might hurt himself on.

All of this due to today's overly protective parents who will SUE at the drop of a hat if Precious Snowflake comes home with a scrape. This is why so many kids today will never experience the pleasures and "tests" of childhood like we did.

These stupid parents fail to understand that every cut, scrape, burn, or even broken bone is preparing them for later in life. After you've been injured enough, you soon think twice about doing really stupid things. It's called LEARNING HOW TO STAY ALIVE AND PAIN FREE.

Today's kids have had this taken away from them, and God help them when they do something REALLY STUPID, because they haven't had the little painful experiences of life... and when it DOES happen, it's probably going to be very serious or even fatal.

[CoolBreeze]

Oh... here's a funny playground bit from 1965:

http://www.mywvhome.com/web/1playground.mp3

[Big Media]

Coolbreeze, You are completely missing the reason for removing the swings. It has nothing to do with overprotective parents----although I agree 100% that parents are too overprotective. This has everything to do with scum-of-the-earth personal injury lawyers.

Granted, the parent of the injured child ultimately decides whether or not to sue, but the scumbag lawyer is the one pushing the buttons.

Think about it. If your kid got hurt and a lawyer shows up wearing a fancy suite and all but promises a check for 20 large, and all you have to do is sign a few papers and possibly give a deposition, wouldn't you do it?

Bull shit.

You would, too. It's $20,000 in your pocket for doing next to nothing.


The Bill Cosby clip was a riot. How right he is!

[CoolBreeze]

Every person is responsible for his or her own actions. There are temptations all around us. You make the final decision. Lawyers or anyone else are secondary to your personal actions.

[weaver]

This has everything to do with scum-of-the-earth personal injury lawyers.

Hey, don't talk about our Legislature that way!

[AmpedNow]

I went to an elementary school that had swings, monkey bars, a big slicky slide, swings, a merry go round, and a big, rolling, stationary barrel that used to throw everyone out of it if we got it going fast enough.

There wasn't one woodchip on the entire playground. It was all blacktop.

During the summer, they would leave the gates open so the kids still had a place to play. We would be in there all day swinging, riding bikes, and playing kickball with minimal supervision.

Somehow, we all survived, even though most of us got banged up at some point.

I think the entire concept of unscheduled recess is on its way out. Hell, kids have to schedule "playtimes" now. They can't even run down the street by themselves to hang out at a friend's house anymore. Virtually every minute of most children's lives are scheduled now. Even weekends.

Recess as we know it will devolve into some bland, heavily supervised "exercise time" after their grilled chicken salad lunches with minimal interaction with each other. This makes the chances of any physical, and emotional, accidents minimal.

Combine this with the desire of some educators to discourage children of even having a "best friend", what we are left with is emotionless, socially awkward drones adverse to taking any chances, and who only interact with others if there is something in it for them.

Sounds fun.

[CoolBreeze]

Kids no longer run the streets because the law is useless against the many perverts out there. In my day, if someone was caught abusing a kid, the pervert didn't have to worry about the law, he had to worry about the parents and neighbors. This leads to the second thing that has changed: In my day, you not only worried about your parents catching you doing something wrong... but also any neighbor within 5 blocks. They would grab you and march you right home and tell your parents what you did. Try that today and the cops would arrest you for kidnapping.

The biggest change is that most parents DARE anyone to correct their child in any way shape or form. Not the school, not the neighbor, not even the law. So now these imbecile parents deserve everything they're getting, but the kids unknowingly suffer for it.

[The Interpreter]

Cabell County Schools Must Allow Swingers Under State School Policy:

http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/101937383.html

[Ace Purple]

This has everything to do with scum-of-the-earth personal injury lawyers.

I strongly agree.