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[quote=Anonymous]I think monkey bars are more dangerous because of the way they're built, not just that they are high, or involve climbing. When we were kids we had the parallel bars and we had some monkey bars, like two or three bars to swing around on. I did all manner of tricks and it was fun and fine. However, now you have these big orb looking things and I think, in an attempt to prevent kids from doing penny drops or swinging around on it, etc, they put the bars close together and in a strange pattern, so if you fall, you have a pretty good chance of smacking face or shoulder or wrist (etc) first into another metal bar. Metal bars give less than the grass (even if it's hot and dry) below it. In any event, I DO think the modern monkey bars have been weirdly sanitized in a way that makes them LESS safe in the long run. My little dude is only 3 and is very uncoordinated so I let him climb as much as he wants (with me spotting, I guess that makes me helicopter-y to some folks but oh well) in hopes he'll learn to be more sure-footed. However, he's not a risk-taker or climber so far.

As a side-note, on balance i probably come down a little bit more on the free-range side of things, but am I the only parent that is really irritated by the "movement" surrounding same? I'd LOVE to see a successful movement that brings back neighborhoods, kids at home (nannies, moms / dads with flex hours, etc) or at least in play based daycare instead of in school fulltime at three, more recess, and more of the "olden days" feel that made it safe for us to walk home from school at 7, that made it so that we could go out in the street and play hockey. But look, I live in a different time now. If I let MY kids go out, they're the only kids out there. The other kids are scheduled up during the few hours they aren't in school. Homework intrudes on evenings and weekends are filled with organization, from everything from parents feeling they MUST fill every moment, to going out to dinner all the time (I admit we're guilty of that) or to soccer, baseball, etc, or even just ultra-organized birthday parties. We can lament the lack of freedom, but it's super silly, to me, to suggest that parents who are "afraid" to let their kids do what we did as children are the problem. The problem is huge and pervasive and it's really not just a matter of me thinking my 9 year old is not ready to ride metro by herself, I think.  [/quote]

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