Anyone know when playgrounds will be open?

[cantstopstressing]

I hope to god it's soon.

I agree with pps.

Im disgusted by how children have been treated. Their mental health and well being is basically seen as collateral damage.

You'd be amazed at what children prize and enjoy.

My ds often tells me that the best day of his life was when he and his friends first went to the park independently and bought chips and ate them on the grass.

I remember watching the news with him and there was a piece about football for children in a refugee camp. He thought it looked like the most fun place ever...all he saw was loads of boys his age kicking a ball.

My ds is 12...he doesn't want to bake any more cakes at home or go jogging with his dad anymore or play another board game. He wants to go to school. He wants to see his friends.

I know this sounds really dramatic and perhaps over-analysing, but with the 2008 crash, Brexit and now this I feel younger generations have been really poorly let down. Ok I appreciate the virus can't be helped, but I do think the needs of younger generations are being overlooked and underestimated, I'm quite cross at how this is impacting my children. I was appalled that some countries didn't even let children outside. I live in fear about what we are going to be left with after this.

I remember watching the news with him and there was a piece about football for children in a refugee camp. He thought it looked like the most fun place ever...all he saw was loads of boys his age kicking a ball.

I agree. Children can cope with all sorts of privations provided they have each other and can play. By contrast, their mental health tends to take a turn for the worse when they are deprived of contact with other children, are trapped indoors for long periods, get little daylight or fresh air and not enough proper exercise, and get worrying amounts of screen time.

There is very little science behind keeping playgrounds closed. Sunlight kills the virus, corona viruses are known to be less active in the warmer months, and children are known to be low risk themselves. There have also been studies that suggest that even if infected they are less likely to pass it on.

If 4 and 5 year olds can safely go to school, toddlers can safely play on the swings and slides in the outdoors.

Open them up and let the parents assess the risk, just as the “shielded” are now being told to assess their own risk.

Kids are using playgrounds round here regardless, and have been for a while. Admittedly older kids who are out and about without adults. Although last night I saw a dad with kids on the swings.

Teenagers are meeting up in large groups getting pissed on local 'nature reserves' ie wasteland

I think if enough parents jump up & down about playgrounds, they'll reopen pretty quickly. It annoys me no end that I'll apparently be able to buy cushions in Next before my kids will able to go on the swings. The risk is literally minute FFS.

@coldwarenigma We happened upon a little open playground on a walk a few days ago. The kids were sooo excited & we just let them at it to be honest (bit of hand sanitiser afterwards). There was a pile of crime scene tape dumped in a corner, so I wonder if they'd had a visit from the Playground Liberation Army .

TBH I think part of the reason the Gov don't give a fuck about playgrounds is that it represents the people-with-big-gardens demography

'playground liberation army'

slightly off topic but does anyone known when swimming pools might open?

@nickecave I'm in London and the skate park near me is open

Oh are they still closed? I thought they'd opened up last week given there were kids playing in the one I was parked near

I think the reason the government have not said anything about kids playing together/playgrounds etc is because although the risk is very small to them, if they say go ahead and then 1 child catches it and dies, there will then be people suing and saying you said it was safe!! I guess they are damned if they do and damned if they don't.

I do really worry about what this is doing to children. I teach a few online one-to-one, and I see differences in each of them. I see the difference in my toddler who clings to me everyday and is now scared of getting anywhere near people. And I see the difference in myself, stuck at home all day alone for the most part, with two very young children. I have never struggled with my mental health before, but I am now, and that is also the case of a couple of friends of mine.

Who cares about kids mental health, social development and wellbeing? As long as the older generation can play golf and visit garden centres it's all good.

My child is 3 and isnt able to go to preschool or nursery- they've decided not to open. I have decided to take the risk and let her play with other kids and throw SD out the window. Today she played with a neighbourhood girl, they played hide and seek, chalked the pavement and chased bubbles.

Nurseries and schools will be so much safer than playgrounds.
I really can’t see how opening playgrounds could be possible. It’s not manageable at all.

I'm glad to see some parents are starting to wake up to the damage that this lockdown is causing to our children. I hope the 'it's not safe' brigade join us and stand up for children before even more damage is done to them.

Went for a walk today with my kids and walked past one the small local parks which is basically all playground. As a result this park has been totally closed since lockdown. Anyway, today a whole had been made in the fence so we could get in. No one was around so I though fuck it, let them have a little play. But both were too scared. My daughter clambered through the whole but was too scared to go any further and my son was to scared to even do that.

Omg hole not whole!!! What am I like