National Program for Playground Safety

By Stephen Kelly, managing editor

As a kid growing up in the Pleistocene Age, also known as the ?EUR??,,????'???50s, the steps from our brick row house in Baltimore on the Chesapeake shore had concrete steps that I nose dived into, splitting open my cranium just between my eyes.

I?EUR??,,????'???m told that copious and disconcerting amounts of youthful blood poured into the sink as my parents frantically administered to me before speeding off to the hospital. My mom swaddled my head in her lap, noting that I didn?EUR??,,????'???t make a peep. I don?EUR??,,????'???t recall the fall, but I still have the scar.

I mention this anecdote because back then, and quite a few decades forward, playgrounds typically had concrete edging and sharp metal slides, etc. Playgrounds have come a long way since, but too many accidents still occur. According to the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), nearly 200,000 playground-related injuries require emergency room visits each year, and about 150,000 of those occur on public playgrounds.

Such injury rates were the impetuous for the formation of the National Program for Playground Safety (NPPS), established in 1995 at the University of Northern Iowa via a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The NPPS www.uni.edu/playground) deems playground safety ?EUR??,,????'??a complex issue,?EUR??,,????'?? and seeks to provide the latest on playground safety and injury prevention. The NPPS does research in injury prevention and produces video instruction. NPPS claims to have the largest compilation of playground-related publications and documents in the U.S. NPPS sponsors an annual National Playground Safety Week (April 26-30), and contacts all state governors to join and issue state proclamations. In 2002, 43 states joined in, but in 2003, only 35 stepped forward.

One of NPPS?EUR??,,????'??? major initiatives is the National Action Plan for the Prevention of Playground Injuries, which is based on four goals:

1. Design age-appropriate playgrounds.
2. Provide proper surfacing under and around playgrounds.
3. Provide proper supervision of children on playgrounds.
4. Properly maintain playgrounds.

The NPPS playground safety plan outlines action on the national, state and local levels.

At the national level, NPPS works with the American Alliance of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance; Association for Childhood Education International; National Association for Education of Young Children; National Recreation and Park Association; National Safety Council; and the National Safe Kids Campaign.

At the state level, NPPS calls for support of state departments of education, natural resources, health, and human services, and organizations affiliated with preschool children, schools, parks and recreation departments, teacher education, medical professionals and other concerned professional organizations to provide information and education on playground safety.

At the local level, the plan involves schools, park and recreation departments, child care centers, PTAs, service groups and other nonprofit organizations.

The NPPS conducted a state-by-state survey of playground safety in 1998-2000. It gave public playgrounds in the United States and overall grade of C. During the next two years, NPPS will do a follow-up survey of America?EUR??,,????'???s playgrounds. The survey instrument will again look at issues of SAFE: supervision, age appropriate developmental design, falls to the surface and equipment and surface maintenance.