Teenagers have come together to fight for more facilities for disabled children in parks.
They realised many families had been left without access to green space after a spell of volunteering at the Blind and Deaf Association in Blackburn as part of their National Citizen Service work.Their….their what..?!?
Is this what they are learning now, while not reaching required desired levels in reading, writing and adding up? How to lobby, organise and hector on behalf of special victim groups?
Alltogether Club founder Lizzie Toms, whose group provides activities for disabled children and adults said: “People don’t seem to realise that a simple activity such as going for a picnic in the park just isn’t possible unfortunately for these families which is massively unfair.”
Youth MP Harry Bithell said: “I think it’s an important campaign and I hope that the council will look into the possibilities of making parks more friendly for those with disabilities. ”Meanwhile, in Brighton they are just doing their best to disable the children already in the playground:
Play equipment at a newly refurbished park has been closed off to the public after three children were reportedly injured playing on it just weeks after it opened.Whoops!
Brighton mother Tammie Lindsay said her daughter, Isabelle Moss, has had her summer holiday ruined after breaking her leg on the equipment last week.
The six-year-old was playing on the seesaw with her three-year-old twin brothers Callum and Kye on Thursday when she slipped and had her leg crushed underneath the wooden equipment.Nasty. But the family do seem to be making a bit of a fuss over it:
Little Isabelle is now having to sleep downstairs because getting upstairs is too difficult for her and her family are considering selling her mid-height bed because it’s too high for her to get into.Yes. That’s right. Selling her bed. That seems a reasonable response, doesn't it?
The spokeswoman said the seesaw had been designed to meet new European safety standards and was inspected by a qualified in-house inspector on Friday afternoon.
She added: “Due to the high level of usage that the Level play area is currently experiencing we have decided to temporarily fence off the item while we investigate the accident further.”/facepalm
Gah! Bring back the terrors of the witch's hat, the roundabout whirling faster and faster and tarmac to strip the skin off all parts colliding with it. I know my generation survived the playground better able to assess risk and tobtake responsibility for our physical selves than the last several generation of ninnies. Yes, I broke both my arms when an impatient older child pushed my four year old self off the side of an 18ft slide and it made me very wary but I still had a better childhood
ReplyDeleteDo any of your older readers remember that particularly dangerous piece of playground equipment called the "Witches Hat".
ReplyDeleteLethally able to crush all the fingers of an idiot holding it too close to the top.
http://www.hobo-bonobo.co.uk/blogs/images/110119142257.jpg
But then in those days, kids had a modicum of common sense, growing up to be (amongst other things) wise old(er) Bloggers.
Simples, remove ALL apparatus from ALL parks then no children can be injured by them again and no tax payers money need be spent on them, win win.
ReplyDeleteAh, memories. Who can forget the cheese cutter, a sort of twelve person swing with up to four of the bigger lads stood working it up and any number of smaller kids sat astride clinging on for dear life. Not seen one of those for some time.
ReplyDeleteI recall the local clever lads lifting the Witches Hat off its pedestal and putting it on the ground, where it made a perfect framework for a wigwam....
ReplyDeleteThe first "Anonymous" commentor could be my brother ?! 4 years old shoved from an 18ft slide in the local park he split his head open and bled for England.
ReplyDeleteMe and another brother carried him between us to the local hospital then the other brother ran the mile and a half home to fetch mum & dad.
Oh and we were all aged under-10 !
Maypole anyone ? A scared-shitless-and-lovin-it lesson in G-force.
http://forum.maplewoodonline.com/uploads/FileUpload/7f/be874a21b110a1cee163846eadcc6f.jpg
Kids today...they have no idea how to live and the fault lies squarely with their parents. Sell the bed ? Has no one told them she's not actually dead and it *will* heal ? Pfffftttt....
Luxury. When I were a lad Dad would cut our arms and legs off and feed them to t'pet lion - if we were lucky. That were our children's amusements.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, but 'what' extra facilities in a park do deaf and blind children need? (Braille instructions on See-saw operating restrictions?)
ReplyDeleteAnd why is it supposedly impossible for either group to access a flat, green, paved open-space "for a picnic"? (Is there a written and aural test to be taken before entry is allowed?)
What am I missing here?
Rent-seeking? 15 minutes of fame? Justification for their Specialist PC Victimology Campaigners Merit Badge to pin on their National Citizen Service Brown Shirts?
And what's the betting the "many families had been left without access" actually means they can't be bothered to walk, drive their free car disabled and expect to be ferried there and back - with picnic laid on at someone elses expense? Or am I just being cynical again?
"Gah! Bring back the terrors of the witch's hat..."
ReplyDeleteJudging by the comments, everyone has fond memories of this!
"But then in those days, kids had a modicum of common sense..."
And if they didn't have it, they acquired it. By virtue of experience.
"Kids today...they have no idea how to live and the fault lies squarely with their parents."
Spot on!
"Luxury. When I were a lad Dad would cut our arms and legs off and feed them to t'pet lion.."
:D