Going to a playground without children?

[CantWaitForOctober]

Just watched a video on Facebook of a woman confronting another woman who entered a playground and sat down without having a child with her. The woman was shouting at her asking her why she was in the playground if she doesn't have any children with her. This happens a lot where I am adults will come and sit down in the playground on the benches. (To be clear I am referring to a children's playground gated with swings and slides etc not a park with loads of grass and benches) although this isn't something I would do personally AIBU to think this is ok and she shouldn't be confronting her and recording her? Lots of people in the comments agreeing with the woman and saying she was right to confront her.

i used to sit in the park at lunch, sometimes i would be right looking at the cordoned off playground, it was in the sun, it did wrongly feel awkward.

Bit stupid of the confrontational woman to demand to know why the other woman was there. Even if she had the wrong motives, she was hardly going to admit it.

There’s a man that does this where i live. It’s odd.

Lots of adults sit in the park round here. It’s opposite the school and there is a chunky wooden thing that’s supposed to be a climbing thing but tends to have adults on it. After drop off/ before pick up is most popular but it’s a nice spot for a picnic. I’ve sat there myself for a couple of hours working after I’ve done the dog walk.

Lots of adults sit in the park round here. It’s opposite the school and there is a chunky wooden thing that’s supposed to be a climbing thing but tends to have adults on it. After drop off/ before pick up is most popular but it’s a nice spot for a picnic. I’ve sat there myself for a couple of hours working after I’ve done the dog walk.

I’d probably have thought it odd until I started playing Pokemon Go with my daughter! Now I’d assume they’re trying to do a raid on a gym (they station them at playgrounds and buildings) and want to sit down to do it lol

I’ve entered a park and sat on a bench - I was waiting for my DH & kids! Seems bizarre entitlement - lots of reasons an adult would sit in a bench in a kids playground. What’s wrong with people

Poor man. Presumably people locally know him and won’t confront him?
It’s tragic that a minority of perverts have made an innocent pleasure for others be viewed with suspicion. My DD is grown up, I enjoy seeing kids playing when I’m passing by them.

Why would anyone without kids want to go into that noise?? That’s what I think is weird.

The gated playpark in our local park is the only place you can guarantee not to be approached by a dog. I sometimes sit there for half an hour on my lunch break for that reason. I'm hugely allergic to dogs.

All that noise? It's not like they're sat in the middle of a soft play surrounded by hundreds of screaming children.

They might live alone and spend most of their day in silence.

Maybe they enjoy hearing others having fun.

Perhaps the sounds of children playing is preferable to the sound of dogs barking.

Or maybe they just wanted to sit down, and that was the closest bench.

The thing is, there is nothing to say than an adult who is accompanied by a child can’t be a paedophile. A lot of paedophiles get away with it because they are parents and everyone assumes they can be trusted.

@Ddakji they can wait five minutes on a playground for people to finish their conversation. It didn’t kill them. If it was the middle of the day and was peak playtime it would be different.

Pretty odd. Our two children's’ play area both have signs saying nobody over 14 unless supervising children or something to that effect.

this always happens but i usually don't care people can sit where they like it's a public space - I confronted one guy because he was smoking though right next to the bloody swings! he did apologise and leave.

Another man came in and fed a load of pigeons and they swarmed into the playground and were pooing everywhere - i said something to him as well but he was a bit of a nutter and didn't really seem to give a shit !

There really is no rule that you have to have a child with you to sit on a bench in a playground. The lady may have needed to sit down and the bench was the nearest one, she may have wanted some space away from dogs, she may have been reminiscing about her children/grandchildren, she may just enjoy seeing children play.

The world is going absolutely batshit.

My gran used to do this all the time with her dog.

It was because all the other benches in the park were in remote, cut-off spots where she didn't like to sit alone so she felt safer in the kids playground where there were people about.

She was widowed and had 5 children of her own so I think she felt comfortable and at home amongst the noise and children playing.

It’s the ‘confrontation’ aspect which is bad in the OPs instance.
Surely in most cases you could just engage the person on the bench in conversation and figure out from that if they’re benign or suspicious?
If there’s someone you wouldn’t want to try talking to (in which case ‘confrontation’ could be a very bad idea) and you’re worried then call the police - non emergency number unless you’re very seriously worried .

In a public park you might have a dog run over to you, whereas in the pay area where it's fenced this is very unlikely. People may find it more relaxed from that point of view

You are probably right but I have spent the last 15 years in playgrounds and all I want is quietness now. Maybe one day I will want noise again.

How do you get out of bed in the morning?

Yes, I agree. We all know that there are some deeply undesirable people out there, with evil proclivities; but it's very sad that we now almost refuse to accept that adults might enjoy watching young children enjoying themselves - without the slightest inappropriate thought whatsoever remorely going through their heads.

People - even men - coo and smile at babies, because they are cute and naturally bring joy; obviously we always need to be on our guard against bad people, but why do we assume that everybody finding young children adorable - a natural human instinct - must/very likely has bad motives?

I doubt they would have bothered to confront the woman unless it was a drugs issue.

Ive had it where a childless man was in the playground filming other kids playing and purposely dropping things as an excuse to keep coming back. The other dads in the play park were oblivious, including DH, so me and a gran and another mum basically had to deal with getting the guy to leave. It was really creepy and sketchy.

We had a lady that just came in to sunbathe. Slightly odd , but fantastic tan.

This!

It’s odd to go and sit in a gated children’s play area, especially a gated one, when you don’t have children. Very different to a public field where there happens to be a park on it.

Of course it could be innocent and it probably is, but it’s odd nevertheless. I assume even those who say it’s ok wouldn’t do it themselves though? The reason being is that it would raise eyebrows so you wouldn’t put yourself in that situation.