Disappointment at the playground for my grandsons...
By Feona1962
@Feona1962 (7526)
United States
September 22, 2008 4:12pm CST
My grandsons are 6 and 4...They love to play at the park down the hill from us...The city just redid the play area to accomodate the younger children...
While my grandsons were playing, they saw that each new piece of equipment, swings, slides, etc...has writing on them...
Some wrote their names on the swings..innocent enough..but still wrong...
Then the other ones had these sayings on them....
Go hump a gay therapist....
I hate you Matt, I hope you die of a heart attack...
Hump me....
And of course the dreaded "F" word was there too! And all the other ugly words that kids use these days..
Thank Goodness the youngest can't read..but I'm sure the 6 year old could figure it out...
They pointed them all out to me and told me it wasn't very nice of those kids to write on the play equipment...
I told them that it wasn't nice....
Some even wrote their first and last name and what year they were to graduate...
I know it's everywhere but it makes you wonder...Obviously they were there alone, unsupervised...but we can't be with them all the time....
They took out the big swings and put in a smaller version for the young kids..but when you go down there big kids are on them...and the little ones have to wait....They could have put in a smaller version and left the big swings too!
Anyway, are your parks like this?
3 people like this
11 responses
@Feona1962 (7526)
• United States
22 Sep 08
It seems like it has become a way of life for some kids....Unless they get caught they aren't going to stop doing it...It is a defiance thing...You can't catch me....and you can't do anything because I am a kid...
Some of the kids that do the graffiti here on the block walls and even the train cars should look into art school...some of it looks pretty good....They should put their talent into some good use....
But that means responsibility and they don't want to have any part of that..
2 people like this
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
22 Sep 08
hi feona that is just outrageous. I have neve seen graffiti
'like that in our city parks here but we had a spate of some
really vicious woman who was inserting razor blades into the sawdust used around the swing sets and the slide and climbing'
gym in someof our parks. Some kids got cut hands and feet before the razor blades were all found and the woman was finally found in the act and put in prison. that was a horrifying time for young moms and their kids who just wanted some fun at the city kids parks.
2 people like this
@Feona1962 (7526)
• United States
22 Sep 08
Oh my goodness!! That is just beyond horrible....I bet it was a long time before anyone took their little ones back there to play...
I am so glad they found her..and that she is in prison...
The writing at my park pales in comparison to what this lady did...Just awful...
1 person likes this
@samtaylorskykierajen (7977)
• Canada
22 Sep 08
I am actually grateful to say this is not something we see where I live . Graffetti seems to be seen a lot in the cities and not so much in the country . The only playground around for me to take my children to is at the school but the set up is nice because they have the smaller childrens on one side and on the other side they have one set up for the older children . There is no writing on any of the slides or swings . I don't know if this is more because it is a school setting or because we live in the country but do know that if anyone did anything like that where we live and they were caught they would pay a hefty fine as that is not tolerated and I never gave it much thought before but it is true , I would not care for my younger children to see this . It is wrong and like you said we are not ablt to watch our children 24/7 and gerneally this is done by older children who are there on there own . Children do not seem to realize that someone has to clean this mess up that they do and that this is offensive to many people . They don't seem to realize that to fix something like this will cost someone out there money and that and those that do realize this don't seem to care .
2 people like this
@Feona1962 (7526)
• United States
22 Sep 08
It all comes down to the parents not teaching proper behavior at home...and when the parents aren't with the kid they should know that this stuff is wrong..and until they have to pay a fine or do community service, they won't know or care about it...
My grandsons are 4 and 6 and they know not to do it...and they know if they were to do it, they would be in big trouble....
There are those that know its wrong and will still do it...Peer pressure being a reason...and many other reasons...
1 person likes this
@muscare (3068)
• Australia
26 Sep 08
Hi Feona, I find this is so irresponsible, but then the types of people who do this sort of stuff don't think about much other than themselves. Maybe it'll come back and bite them, if they eventually have kids. Then they'll remember they were the same sort of idiots that were defacing public property.
We're pretty lucky here, our small town doesn't have too many vandals, and they are usually found out relatively quickly!
1 person likes this
@Feona1962 (7526)
• United States
29 Sep 08
Hello muscare..
It won't be long before these ones are found...They wrote their first and last names on the equipment..silly kids...
At least my grandsons know it is wrong and they won't participate...
Good to see you...Hugs
1 person likes this
@ANTIQUELADY (36440)
• United States
23 Sep 08
i have not been to the park in a long time but ihope they aren't like tht. that is awful for children to do that. it all starts at home!!
@GardenGerty (157555)
• United States
23 Sep 08
Thankfully, our parks are not this way, and there is a variety of sizes of equipment. There are little parks near big parks, and the elementary schools are open after school hours as well. Our town is really small but there are four elementary schools, three preschools, and larger parks often have more than one play area. One local church just put in a new play area that is open access and the apartment complexes, at least one of them, has several play areas. I just do not see the vandalism you are describing, and I hope I never do. We did have our band shell vandalized with writing one year. We have lots of green spaces in town, which is helpful when we have things like our Scottish Festival and Swim meets in town.
1 person likes this
@carmelanirel (20942)
• United States
22 Sep 08
That is unfortunate and nothing we can really do about it except explain to our children/grandchildren that it is wrong and that you would hope they would be more respectful of property like that..
@Feona1962 (7526)
• United States
22 Sep 08
I know...and I do tell them that it isn't right for kids to do this....and to just ignore it...
1 person likes this
@CatsandDogs (13963)
• United States
1 Oct 08
That is so sad. I think I'd have to bring a few cans of spray paint in different colors in hopes to paint over the derogatory remarks or rather ALL the remarks. It's a sad shame that kids aren't taught manners like when we were kids. Some are being taught but most aren't. Every summer when we have our God kids, we are stern on them so they will learn manners, the manners that they don't learn at home.
@nicholejade (2430)
• Canada
22 Sep 08
I think grafitti happens anywhere. And the sad thing is that it happens in the parks where kids such as your grandsons love to go and play. I don't think it's approiate at all for kids well not even kids adults do it as well. I have seen more teenagers do it. I honestly don't know how we are going to keep the parks clean when this always happens.
@Feona1962 (7526)
• United States
22 Sep 08
It will probably always be there...but it just makes you wonder what is going on at home...
@wyte059tyger (141)
• United States
22 Sep 08
It's a shame that people don't think of how they can hurt others when they do things like this. It seems that if there is a blank space, there is that urge to fill it in, and usually with profanity. How come your playground didn't leave the big swingset and add a smaller one? That seems it would have been a nice thing to do. I always liked to swing, and even tho I'm 65, I would still like to once in a while, but nobody has swings my size anymore. Drag.
@Feona1962 (7526)
• United States
22 Sep 08
Hi wyte...
From what I hear they wanted it to be just for the younger group..Like 12 and under....but the teenagers still use the little swings and the baby swings..They should have left the big ones for the bigger kids and adults...I loved to swing right along side of my grandsons...Now I can't..Real bummer...
Someone probably complained about the big slide and the big swings being a safety hazard for the little ones...It's called adult supervision...
They only have 6 swings instead of 12...and my grandsons have to wait until the big kids get off...and most of them just sit there and talk...
The other swings were lower and my youngest grandson could easily get on and off, but now the new swings are too high and I have to help him get on...It doesn't make any sense....
1 person likes this
@wyte059tyger (141)
• United States
2 Oct 08
I'm pretty sure the people who design the playgrounds don't have kids. Otherwise they would have a clue what was needed. From what you say, the swings obviously aren't disability friendly. What a shame.
The day after I wrote my last response, I went to a headstart picnic to help with the food and supervision. The playground has shredded rubber tires on the ground and recycled tires make up a lot of the play equipment and benches. It was really cool. They had both sizes of swings and some were very low while others were for bigger kids.
