Children's Play Space and Safety Management
Rethinking the Role of Play Equipment Standards
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3587913 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Bernard Spiegal (Clinical Practice Research Datalink), Tim R Gill (Rethinking Childhood, London, UK), Tim Gill (0000-0002-0343-8214, Rethink Mental Illness), Harry Harbottle (Canterbury Archaeological Trust), David J Ball (0000-0003-1681-3455, Middlesex University) |
| Year | 2014 |
| Volume | 4 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Publication date | 2014-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | SAGE Open (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2158-2440 • E-ISSN: 2158-2440 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/2158244014522075 |
| OpenAlex | W2105762850 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
| References cited | 26 |
The provision of stimulating and engaging play space for children and young people is increasingly recognized as an important societal goal, not the least because it provides the young with opportunities to develop and gain experience in experimenting with risk. Research in several disciplines now suggests that achievement of this goal has however been impeded in recent decades, and reasons commonly cited have included fear of injury and avoidance of litigation. International standards on play equipment have also been promulgated and justified in terms of securing young people's "safety," most usually narrowly defined as injury reduction. There appears to be a widespread presumption that measures aimed at injury prevention are necessarily beneficial overall for young people's welfare. In this article, we subject European standards for play equipment and surfacing to scrutiny. In particular, we examine underlying motives, consistency of purpose, use of evidence, philosophical leanings, scope, practicalities of application, systems of management, and legal ramifications. From this, we identify a number of fundamental issues that suggest that as a consequence of compartmentalized thinking and misunderstandings, these standards have invaded areas of decision making beyond their legitimate territory. The consequence of this is that play provision is skewed away from what are properly play provision objectives. In such circumstances, local decision makers are often disempowered, and their ability to provide optimal play spaces thereby circumscribed
Business · Political science · Presumption · Public relations · Scrutiny · Adventure Sports and Sensation Seeking · Child Therapy and Development · Computer Science · Injury Epidemiology and Prevention · Law · Psychology
Risky Play
A GoPro Look on How Children Aged 17–25 Months Assess and Manage Risk during Free Exploration in a Varied Natural Environment
Risky Play and Children’s Well-Being, Involvement and Physical Activity
Coping with Standards
From eco to exploitation
Avoiding a dystopian future for children's play
Children's dynamic risk management - a comprehensive approach to children's risk willingness, risk assessment, and risk handling
Children's Risky Play from an Evolutionary Perspective
Health Promotion
Public Safety and Risk Assessment
Reclaiming Childhood
Odds and Ends
Playgrounds which would never happen now, because they'd be far too dangerous’
Standards for risk assessment of standards
Outdoor play spaces in Canada
Jumping off and being careful
| Unique citing works | 7 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2019 - 2026 (8) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 7 |