Where Have All The See Saws Gone

When I look at the playgrounds of today I see what was once a world filled with imagination being stifled by those who never had an imagination to begin with.


In my youth, and yes for you wise acres out there I can remember that far back. The playgrounds I visited always had a teeter totter; a rocket slide and a merry go round.

Today nary a one can be found.

In playgrounds and schoolyards across Southern California these classic toys of yesteryear have been discarded, tossed by the wayside of progress.

No more spinning around in circles until when you jump off the world feels as if it is going is going to fall off of its axis.

No more finding the right balance of kids to keep the teeter-totter in perpetual motion.

No more climbing into the metal rocket ship, battling space aliens and sliding down the slide in an emergency escape.

All have faded into the dusty memories of yesterday.

How did this happen?

Where has all the fun gone?

I imagine that like so many other events, fads and cool toys from my youth the slow glacial trend toward safe and sane toys and playgrounds has ground the joys of yesteryear into dust.

Now playgrounds are built without imagination. Like everything else in our society they have become cookie cutouts. Exact duplicates of the park on the next block, with the same trees, the same sidewalk even the same graffiti covering the bathroom walls.

Some claim that all of these changes are necessary to protect our children from bodily damage caused by this evil equipment. I for one just do not buy into this argument.

I am not saying that no kids were ever hurt on playground equipment. However, in my youth I cannot remember a single ER visit made by my family or friends due to injuries brought about by the diabolical teeter-totter or the conniving merry go round. Sure sometimes we ended up with bumps and bruises but we shook them off and kept on playing.

It is past time to bring imagination back to our youth. Give them a playground that stimulated them intellectually and physically and before long the electronic sounds of Nintendo will once again be replaced by the laughs and screams of our children rediscovering the joys of childhood.