Every day for the past year, I have driven by the same playground on my way to class and noticed that, in addition to being close to the road, there was nothing but pavement underneath every structure on the playground. As you can all probably imagine, I was bothered by what I saw, especially since I had witnessed several falls in the play area before, one of which involved a young child falling backwards and almost smashing their head into the ground. Never in my life had I seen such a blatant safety hazard on a playground. So, in an attempt to address the problem, I called the City Public Parks and Recreational Services Department, who then informed me that the only thing I could do was "suggest" that the apartment complex improve its facilities because the area was considered 'private' property, not public. Interestingly enough, the region I am talking about is a city project called Poughkeepsie Public Housing Authority (Sounds PUBLIC, right?), where the poorest individuals and families in the area live. It was furthermore suggested that I contact the housing complex directly. Yet, with their economic status in mind, what possible motivation would the complex have to ensure the safety of its youngest inhabitants when, if injured or killed, their family would be entirely unable to pursue a legal recourse against the city. Honestly, I think the whole situation is a sham and a crime. Simply because these kids were born in an impoverished area it is justifiable for them to be exposed to unnecessary threats of harm or death? According to the Handbook for Public Playground Safety, which was written by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, every playground (public) must have some kind of cushioning underneath every play structure, and yet this has NOTHING. The reason I am posting this is because, quite frankly, I need help. I have called every office in the state and country I can think of, and all I get is the fact that I can do nothing. If anyone has dealt with a similar situation and knows a tactic that can work, please let me know. I am willing to do just about anything worthwhile, including contacting the housing administration (Although I highly doubt the success of this approach for reasons previously stated) to convince them of the value of safety precautions, but this is a final option for me. If you would like any more information regarding this matter please feel free to let me know. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much for your time.
Sincerely,
Christian
Thank you very much for the suggestion! Right now I am in the middle of writing an editorial, but before I submit it anywhere, I am going to try and get my research together and meet with state Senator Salande. Salande is very good when it comes to defending children's rights, and since I wont be approaching him just about the surfacing I should be able to make a subsantial case. The New York Public Interest Group (NYPIRG) released a recent study last year, which is recent considering the last research project I can find is from 2004, in which volunteers reported playground hazards on over 150 playgrounds in the broader New York region. You can take a "gander" at the report here: http://www.nypirg.org/Consumer/playground06/default.html I have to tell you, the statistics are alarming in both the physical and economic costs of playground mis-management. By the way, the ultimate goal of what I am doing, in case anyone is interested, is to get both public and private playgrounds under legal protection similar to that which is defined in New Jersey, whereas private and public are protected. Playgrounds covered in the New Jersey law are defined as play areas "set aside for play by six or more children", which covers a much wider range of play areas than in New York.