Have I got this right - playgrounds

[edgeware]

Playgrounds in Scotland will be open from the 29th of June I believe - but playgrounds in England will stay shut until Autumn? The leaked plans for after the 4th of July seem to say they will stay completely shut?

It’s total nonsense. If adults can sit in a pub garden why can’t children play in a playground? What actually is the difference in terms of risk?

@Hugglespuffed we’ve been having fun in the park but my DS bloody loves the playground. We have a lovely playground near us and it would be lovely to just be able to let him go on the slide and the swing.

I’ve wondered about play equipment in pub beer gardens

A pp has already said, but the Times reported today that play areas would be closed at pubs.

@bookworm14 the pub industry have lobbyists

The UK government has obviously got a bee in its bonnet about playgrounds in the same way that the Scottish and Welsh governments have with their 5 mile limit.

They say they're following "the science" but it makes no sense.

Indeed, edgeware. Sadly children don’t contribute to the economy so no one gives a shit about them.

I'm actually in tears reading this. I have two toddlers. The park is our daily thing. It's part of a large country park so many play areas spread a big distance apart takes a good couple of hours to get around and my 3 year old cries asking to go to the park daily.

He literally refuses to go for a walk anywhere else now.

I was hoping beginning of July at the very latest. I'm so, so sick of it.

It's ridiculous, especially when you consider that other countries have never even closed theirs (and have had much lower infection rates). We live in a flat with no garden and I've been feeling so trapped without having access to playgrounds. When the nurseries opened a few weeks ago I decided to pay for DD to go 1-2 days a week, even though I'm a sahm so don't need it for childcare. But they have playground equipment, sandpits and water play and she was delighted to be able to climb and swing again. I was wistfully looking at climbing frames/swings for a garden and I figure anyone in power with younger kids would just buy their own equipment for their huge gardens so it's not something they need to worry about.

I can see the sense in keeping playgrounds closed till the end of the summer term in England. Otherwise what’s the point in bubbling kids at school as a lot would be mixing at the weekend in the playground?

After that though, let’s get them open. I know the issue is they are far harder to regulate (no one checking social distancing (and let’s face it kids won’t), no way to limit numbers), but we have to learn to live with this disease. Summer is going to be really tough for some families if they can’t access free activities like playgrounds.

I started s petition about this. Have a read and if you agree please share and sign! I also emailed my MP, OP, but have yet to hear a reply!

www.change.org/p/boris-johnson-reopen-playgrounds

“ That's why you never hear about kids passing on nits as they "naturally distance"”

Nits being passed on in public playgrounds is something that happens a lot, is it?

I would love to see ‘the science’ on this one! Iirc they have been open all the time in Germany.

Yet again the beach is packed full today.. no one even trying to social distance. I don't give rats arse anymore, I'm banned from using my beach hut whilst visitors piss behind it and the kids beach toys are locked inside! And still we are told to stay out of the play park 🤷‍♀️ I may well become a rule breaker very soon..!!

I don’t get why they are being kept closed. They are outside and it is the summer. According to the ‘science’ coronavirus is killed by UV light which is currently in abundance, even in the UK!

These days nits are mostly passed on when children crowd their heads together to see the same electronic device. It’s why they spread in secondary schools these days whereas until recently they were mainly a problem in primary. I am sure covid could also spread more easily this way than on play equipment and I would think this is going to happen more rather than less if kids go to the park with nothing to climb and swing on.

Only allowed to travel 5 miles from your home in Scotland, (except work etc etc). So, even if you actually live on the border, you can only go to playgrounds 5 miles from border.

You can’t really compare pub gardens where people will just be sat down and playgrounds. Children will be touching the equipment constantly in a playground, as will parents of younger children (pushing them on swings etc). Many young children put their fingers in their mouths, rub their eyes and pick their noses, germs could spread easily.

Schools are having regular deep cleaning - who will regularly clean all the playgrounds?

I can see why soft play and outdoor play areas are staying closed for now due to the risk of viral spread from surfaces.

Children coming down the slide, jumping in the swing one after the other. Constantly touching their faces and putting their hands in their mouths, you can't stop little ones doing that.

Not practical to constantly disinfect the equipment, especially a ball pit!

Exactly what I think @redapplegreenapple

And to the poster who said kids naturally distance. Really?! I work with kids, most don't!

This is madness; it’s starting to feel as if children are being openly discriminated against as the country starts to get going again. No idea why they’re so fixated on this - would love to see what ‘science’ they’re following. Think I’m going to email my MP.

It’s easy enough to give a swing a quick wipe down with disinfectant before you use it and you can make kids antibac their hands regularly. It’s not going to be fail safe but then plenty of adults (especially drunk ones) are hardly paragons of hygiene.
If your kids regularly lick the equipment you don’t have to take them but quite a lot of kids don’t...

Ball pits thought, I agree about those!

@LastTrainEast

"I've never been in a playground where kids are closer than 2m anyway" That's why you never hear about kids passing on nits as they "naturally distance"

In a classroom, yes they can be on top of eachother but I've never had other kids go right up to either DC in playgrounds. Add they worried they might start sharing swings?

The article is behind a paywall, does it specifically say public playgrounds will stay closed or just mention pub ones? If it just mentions pub ones it might be about keeping the time people spend in pubs down (I've heard drink/time limits mentioned before) and maybe general ones will be ok? Really hope they can open soon. Spent 3 months doing walks, nature trails etc, a change would be nice!

I can't understand how adults are allowed to go to the pub where they will inevitably become inebriated and therefore less likely to be careful, hygienic and socially distance but children aren't allowed in open air playgrounds.
They're either not telling us something or they're just plucking rules out of the air as they see fit