In 1996, the National Program for Playground Safety (NPPS)
developed a National Action Plan (NAP)
that was intended to be a blueprint to help local public entities (schools,
childcare centers and parks) create safe play environments for children
(Thompson & Hudson).
Embedded in the NAP was the S.A.F.E. model which was created
to provide individuals with an understanding of the four crucial elements in
the play environment that can help prevent injuries. The S.A.F.E. acronym
stands for Supervision, Age Appropriate Design, Fall Surfacing and Equipment and Surfacing Maintenance. While surfacing gets the most
attention, NPPS has long held that it is no more or less important than the
other three elements in terms of keeping a child safe in the play environment.
Why?
Let’s take the case of 4-year-old Molly who is attending a
childcare center. The center decides to take Molly and the other preschoolers
to the local park on a field trip. In this park is a seven-foot high overhead
ladder with three rungs on the ladder entrance. The childcare provider allows
Molly to climb up on these rungs to get on this structure (problem No. 1 – supervision).
Because Molly has the grip size of a preschooler, not a school age child, and
because she doesn’t developmentally have the arm strength of older children
(problem No. 2 – age appropriate design), she falls from the ladder onto six inches
of pea gravel.
However, as is shown in the CPSC Handbook for Public Playground Safety (CPSC, 2008, p.10), the
maximum height for pea gravel to cushion a fall is five feet (problem No. 3 –
proper fall surfacing). Furthermore, to provide that cushion, the depth of
compressed pea gravel should be nine inches (problem No. 4 – proper
maintenance). Although the injury report is going to say that Molly broke her
arms in a fall, the real cause of the incident involved all four S.A.F.E.
elements.
As can be seen by the example above, all four elements are
important in providing a S.A.F.E. environment for children. However, the one
element that sometimes gets overlooked in community settings is that of supervision.
In fact, some people question whether playground supervision is really
practical, especially in urban park settings where no paid supervisors are
present Like a lot of things, paid playground supervisors are items of the 20th,
not the 21st century. Let’s look a little deeper into the
supervision issue.
S = Supervision
Back in 1991, Steve King of Landscape Structures commented
that supervision was a contributing factor in about 40 percent of legal cases
that involved playground injuries.
In public schools and childcare centers, that percentage is
probably closer to 90 percent. Why?
Because unlike community parks, public schools and childcare centers are under
stricter legal and licensing mandates to provide quality supervision in a play
environment. For instance, the National
Association for the Education of Young Children states that the supervision
ratio for supervisor/children is between 1:4 – 1:10 for children 6 years and
younger. Basically, the younger the child, the more supervision is required
(NAEYC, 1998). While the importance of supervision may be a given in these two
areas (schools and childcare centers), this does not mean that parks located in
the community should be immune from considering supervision as an important
aspect in the development of play structures.
In fact, because supervision takes on a different form—that
of the parent, caregiver, or in some cases, older sibling—it is perhaps more
imperative that community agencies consider supervision in the planning of the
playground environment as well as provide education to community members about
the importance of supervision of children on the playground. How can this be
done?
Developing The Supervision Environment
There are four main considerations to look at in the design
of the playground in the planning stage that facilitate and contribute to a
safe supervision environment (Hudson, Thompson and Olsen, 2008). These are:
- What is the general location of the play structure?
- Are there separate and appropriate age developmental
structures in the environment?
- Do the structures provide for good sight lines?
- Is the structure out of a conflicting zone of play?
When planning the placement of the structure, one needs to
consider if it is by a nearby road, parking lot or other hazardous situations.
If the answer is yes, then some type of barrier (i.e. fence, hedge, etc.)
should be placed between the playground structure and the area of the hazardous
condition. While this may seem like common sense, too many playgrounds across
the country are within easy running distance into a parking lot or road without
any barrier in place.
Providing two, if not three, distinct areas (ages 6 months-23
months, ages 2-5 and ages 5-12) for age appropriate structures also facilitates
the supervision process. This should allow adults to place children on age
appropriate equipment. Does this always happen?
Of course not, but that is part of the education process that we will
discuss in a moment.
However, providing one large composite piece of equipment of
ages 2-12 doesn’t make any sense in terms of trying to have children play on
equipment that fits their physical, emotional, social and intellectual
development. Younger children who get on equipment too large for their
development abilities can easily be hurt as was seen in the real example given
in the beginning. Likewise older children on equipment not challenging enough
can get hurt by misusing the structure.
Can children be easily viewed when on the structure? Open
sight lines refer to the existence of several angles of visual access. This is
especially true if one has benches (not recommended) around the play structure.
The adult sitting on the bench (not recommended) should be able to see children
in crawl tubes, semi-private spaces and tube slides. The provision of small
openings in crawl tubes and slides facilitates the supervision process.
Finally, the play area should be separate from other active
play zones. For instance, the NPPS once got a call from an architect who was
developing a four-plex softball area.
The question was, “Could they put the play structure between fields in a
linear line?” Each play area should have its distinct clearance area so that
conflict recreation doesn’t result.
Educating For Supervision
As important as setting up the play environment for
supervision, is the role of educating the general public about how good
supervision practices can prevent unsafe play behaviors and make sure that a
trip to park is not remembered with tears.
There are at least four ways that agencies can help promote
adult supervision on community playgrounds. First, the provision of signs that
not only remind adults that supervision is recommended but help direct them to
the appropriate equipment areas for the children. NPPS has done research into
signage and the results were mixed (Hudson, Thompson and Olsen, 2006). While
only 30 percent of the people surveyed said they paid any attention to the
signs (signs stated that adult supervision was recommended and gave the age
level for the equipment), more than 50 percent felt signs were a good idea
(Hudson, Thompson and Olsen, 2006). Recently, with the incidences of burns on
playgrounds, an additional caution about playground equipment and surfacing
being hot may be a good idea to put on a sign.
Second, information about expected behavior on play
structures may be posted in an obvious place. In most parks, one is more likely
to have signs that talk about animal care (i.e. keeping dogs on a leash,
picking up after dogs, etc.) than any behavior about children on equipment. If
playground rules are posted, they should be positive: Be respectful, not
negative; Don’t run up the slide.
Third, during a grand opening of the playground, teach both
adults and children about how the equipment should be used. This is a perfect
time to have a short playground safety briefing and arrange activities so that
kids are playing on new equipment in a safe manner. In the same light, the
physical education teacher at schools should teach children how to use any new
equipment.
Fourth, have public service ads and literature available and
celebrate safe playground events. A perfect event would be during National
Playground Safety Week which occurs every year during the last full week of
April. This year the dates are April 20–24.
Remembering The S In S.A.F.E.
Remember, playground equipment will not supervise children.
Supervision is more than being there. It is the careful and unobtrusive
monitoring of the play environment to promote safe behaviors and help prevent
injuries. But for supervision to be practical in the community event, the
playground first needs to be developed with supervision in mind. Second, the
community agency that is sponsoring the playground site should also educate the
potential users and supervisors about safe play behaviors. By remembering and
practicing the S in S.A.F.E. we can help reduce injuries and provide positive play
experiences for children.
References
Hudson, S.,
Thompson, D. and Olsen, H. (Winter
2006). “Why Worry About Signs on the Playground?” The Play Book, p. 17.
Hudson, S., Thompson, D. and Olsen, H. (2008). Building Playgrounds: A Guide to the Planning Process. Cedar
Falls, IA: The
National Program for Playground Safety.
King, S. (1991). “Developing a safe playground is everyone’s
responsibility.” Paper presented at the Minneapolis Congress for the National
Park and Recreation Association, Minneapolis,
MN.
NAEYC ratio reference: NAEYC Accreditation criteria and
procedures of the National Association for the Education of Young Children,
1998 Edition (Washington, D.C.: Author, 1998) p. 7.
Thompson, D. and Hudson, S. (1996). The National Action Plan for the Prevention of Playground Injuries. Cedar
Falls, IA: The
National Program for Playground Safety.
The S.A.F.E. Model ™
