AIBU to wish people would not use playgrounds yet.

[mathdoc]

So I've just been walking in the local park with my DD (5) and she's been so upset she can't use the playrgound. Virtually every other child was being allowed on the swings and slides, despite clear signing saying it's not allowed and tape around the equipment. She was asking if she'd been naughty and therefore wasn't allowed on and I had to try to explain that nobody was meant to be on them. Am I being unreasonable to follow the rules? Have I got the rules wrong? AIBU to wish people didn't break them, especially while other children are around?

poor kid.

@hashtagbollocks

Why do you say that?

i'm not in the uk, i am somewhere with very very little virus or likelihood of it. playgrounds are open, with wash your hands signs up.
honestly the virus is not hanging about on the swing set waiting to jump onto your pants, get sniffed by the dog and passed onto you while you curl up with your pet.
while walking home, you will not inadvertently pass the virus onto the mail ladies cousin who was on the opposite side of the road.

Are you vulnerable or high risk? What's your reasoning? I'm letting my DC use the equipment in the park.

I'm pretty sure you know you haven't got the rules wrong?

I pass through a park on my way to/from work every day and the playgrounds have been packed ever since the start of lockdown.

The worst thing is when you see parents tearing off the caution tape and cutting the cable ties on the twisted swings.

But it is what it is.

@fallfallfall

The problem is that viruses do hang around on swing sets... I know that the probability is very small, but literally millions of people all doing something where there is a very small chance of transmission scales up pretty quickly to lots of transmission.

But more than that, it is just the general principle that many people seem to be happy to encourage small scale rule breaking. I think that's a slippery slope.

And even if you want to break rules in private, please have some consideration for others so that people who want to try to follow the rules for the sake of everyone don't get put into an untenable position!

Playgrounds are closed until 4 July, right? Explaining the rules to a child that age, and that you need to wait until it's allowed, is the right thing to do and teaches her that you take civic and community ideas seriously. I just say to my 5 yo, some people do break the rules but we won't.

Interesting, all the playgrounds in my area have been closed off and I haven't seen anyone using them. Instead, all the kids have been hanging around in the trees and bushes and don't seem to be any worse for it..

My DC have been away from school, their friends and all their activities for three months now...with several more months to go before they will be allowed to return to school. I don't really care anymore about their rules. The risk of CV for children is absolutely tiny. I'm past caring.

We went for a walk in our local country park 3 weeks ago, big signs up saying the play area was closed, hazard tape all around it. People had ripped it off and were allowing their children not only on it, but to run up to each other etc. DS is 18 months, he was so upset we wouldn't let him go on it. We have to walk past it to get to the footpath through the fields to our house and we'd been past the week before and no one was on it so didn't think, came around the corner and there were swarms of children all over it.

No one uses the playgrounds where I live. They are all empty and cordoned off. I agree people shouldn’t be doing it until it has been made okay by the government.

The problem is that viruses do hang around on swing sets

Yeah, I've seen the buggers, smoking and drinking and chucking empty bottles everywhere.

We saw similar today and DS was outraged that someone would break the rules!
As a side note DH has said he will only let the kids use the parks if they wear face masks (in case they touch their face). Sounds fun!

@formerbabe

My DC have been away from school, their friends and all their activities for three months now...with several more months to go before they will be allowed to return to school. I don't really care anymore about their rules. The risk of CV for children is absolutely tiny. I'm past caring.

The vast majority of kids have been in same situation. It's a poor excuse.

I do wonder what kind of generation we're raising, scared of their own shadows.. poor little sods!

I don't know why the government makes these announcements and then expects people to wait for some arbitrary date. The (almost non existent) risk of picking up the dreaded virus from a playground on the 4th July is not going to be significantly different to the risk today.

@Sleepyroo

That's pretty much exactly what I said to her. But it's pretty awkward having that conversation when other parents are within earshot. I do wonder how much thought they were giving to other parents. It's a really interesting example of herd mentality. Out of about 6 parents I was the only one sticking to the rules. I suspect once the first parent allowed their children on, it became much, much harder for the others to stop them. As I said above, each individual use is very low risk, but overall it adds up. I know that COVID is very low risk to children, but I believe that the science is less certain about whether they transmit it, so I'm thinking about all people later in the chain.

I'm not vulnerable, but I know that other people who my daughter might interact with might be.

For people complaining about the length of time children are being kept out of school, I wonder to what extent many, many small pushes at the rules have contributed to the scale of the pandemic.

The vast majority of kids have been in same situation. It's a poor excuse

It's irrelevant...if a load of rich older men are allowed to play golf when they're more at risk from cv, why on earth should I keep my DC away from a playground. Or perhaps they should stay indoors glued to screens for a few more months to protect a group of people who are able to amble round a golf course and a garden centre.

But more than that, it is just the general principle that many people seem to be happy to encourage small scale rule breaking. I think that's a slippery slope.

This is my feeling on it too. I've basically told my DD the rules say we can't yet and some people don't obey rules, but they are wrong.

I’ll admit I jumped over the gate with my two year old on his birthday last week. He is a 5:30am riser so did it at about 7:30am to avoid other kids seeing and asking their adult.
I’m sorry bad excuse maybe but we have moved away from everyone we know and hadn’t a garden so I gave in. He couldn’t stop smiling 😬

i do wonder what kind of generation we're raising, scared of their own shadows.. poor little sods!

Me too, I think we will be seeing the enduring impact for quite a while. Some will likely be terrified to go back to school when they reopen, which is sad. I would have gone in the park personally, armed with some hand gel and wipes. Or avoid walking past it if possible.

We would happily use our local playground risk wise, but its not yet allowed, and no one locally has been doing it so we will stick to the guidance.

They have opted not to cut the grass locally in the park as a means of discouraging people.

@TimeForLunch It is somewhat arbitrary, and I could get on board arguing that they should have opened them with immediate effect. However, they didn't. @BillywilliamV suggests that we are raising a generation who will be very scared. This is a possibility, but I think we might be more in danger of raising a generation who default to ignoring rules if it doesn't suit them. I'm not suggesting that all government rules are flawless by any means, but I get very frustrated by people with no epidemiological knowledge deciding that they know better.

Have the playgrounds reopened yet? They reopened where I live (not the UK) a couple of weeks ago but - I’ll be honest - I was letting my kids go on them a few days before because everybody else was. I had told my 2 year old that they were all broken but when he saw other kids using them he knew that they weren’t. Also a group of doctors here published an open letter in the newspapers showing that the risks of transmission were very low and that it was doing children more harm than good to stop them playing. So I just made the decision on my own. I’m not saying that’s what you should do but I know it’s hard to say no.

This is a possibility, but I think we might be more in danger of raising a generation who default to ignoring rules if it doesn't suit them

I think missing over a term of school, not seeing their friends for a prolonged period, some being left terrified of going outside, and being told they can't do x, y or z (even things that are permitted) as their parents find it too scary is more likely to have an effect rather than a 3 year old going to the park a few days before it opens.

But I get very frustrated by people with no epidemiological knowledge deciding that they know better.

What, like Boris? Seriously though, they have made the decision that they believe it to be safe enough (whatever that is), what do you think is going to change in a few days?