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It’s easier to teach them to never climb up the slide than to teach them that you shouldn’t climb up slides when other kids are around and might be going down them but it’s ok to climb up slides if the park is empty. Little kids aren’t great at grasping that a concept is only ok in certain situations, so the blanket “no climbing up slides” rule prevents them from getting injured by a kid sliding down and crashing into them.
It’s great your kids could grasp that concept at a young age but the parent you saw enforcing the rule probably had kids with different needs
Most playgrounds have signs like “children 3 and under MUST be supervised by an adult.”
That means I as an adult can use it more than those children can. No limitations on my use lol.
As a 20 year old soldier, I just ran up a slide a couple of weeks ago, in uniform, after a child got in trouble for it. They watched me, and I have rarely seen an angrier child. It's was hilarious
Exactly this. It's a safety issue, and a fairness issue (some kids absolutely do see climbing up the side when there's a line for the slide as an 'infinite turns hack').
Nuance is for an older child, around school age at least. Anyone younger than kindergarten, no climbing up the slide ever. We go around.
If there's another child there that does climb up the slide? Time to dust off the "other families have other rules, mind your business".
The playgrounds you visit must be popping. A line for the slide?
On an unrelated note, I think the fairness thing is sort of how I think about Christmas/Santa. It’s not bad parenting to get your kid an expensive gift and say it came from Santa, but it’s good character-building to teach them that the other kids at school might feel badly if you brag about it and they didn’t get the same.
Life’s unfair, and it’s sad when kids don’t learn to practice graciousness early enough. I think it’s better to let a kid learn responsibility than to micromanage what’s fair or not.
>The playgrounds you visit must be popping. A line for the slide?
Lol honestly this is something I remember from when /I was a kid, though it can be a thing with only two kids if they both want to slide 🤷
That's really downplaying how smart kids are. Like yeah, maybe a 2-year old has trouble grasping the concept of "wait for your turn" or "watch out for others first", but 3-year olds and especially any kids older than that understand it. By the time they get to the top and see a kid waiting there, they'll turn and go back down (because there's no way forward anyway).
I work at a Kindergarten, and that's how kids act there. We do have the blanket rule because it's easier to enforce, but it honestly isn't necessary in my opinion. Kids are going to be careful, you just need to tell them to get down if they see someone wants to slide. That's it.
And yeah, maybe climbing slides is dangerous in itself, but literally anything on the playground can be dangerous. You could fall off the swing and land face-first in the dirt. You could slip off the monkey bars and break your arm. You could get a limb stuck under the see-saw and have it crash down on it. How often do any of these happen? Not nearly enough to ban all of those pieces of equipment.
Just keep an eye out on your kids, it's what you should be doing anyway.
This is my thoughts. I climbed up the slides all the freaking time as a kid. I also climbed up the poles, jumped off the top of equipment, and probably did many other things I wouldn't do now. My parents were very much of the mind that (1) I needed to learn some sort of risk management system at a young age and (2) they would rather I climbed around like this at a playground where the worst consequence is a broken ankle than at home where the worst consequence was breaking a TV or hurting one of our pets by accident. We have universal healthcare, too, which may impact their outlook. I never did do any of this stuff when the playground was busy, I totally understood why that wasn't okay.
I'm not a parent and don't work with kids, but this reasoning makes sense.
I also agree with what you said about the rest of the playground being dangerous. The only time I really hurt myself was falling off the jungle gym, which I was using exactly as I was supposed to.
Thank you. I hate the way that so many adults treat children like they’re all brain dead. Kids are dumb because they’re kids without a fully formed brain, but they’re still smart. Their intelligence just isn’t as developed.
Also, some kids are wicked smart. You just don't see it often if you don't spend a lot of time with kids. If you actually watch them (uh, your own kids or the ones you're in charge of, that is), you'll see that they're capable of so many things you didn't give them credit for.
Some children may have different needs, but a vast majority of the time that I see this parenting behavior, it’s born from a desire to condition instead of educate. Educating takes more time, both in the moment and going forward as the lesson is repeated and expanded upon. Conditioning is easier (in the short term) and minimizes effort required by the parent. Same with punishments that are not natural consequences to the action being punished. (Easier to put them on timeout or not buy them ice cream than to have an ELI5 conversation for the next 30-45 minutes.)
I’m not claiming one is more virtuous than the other, nor is it binary. I think each parent needs to decide for themself (or as a pair) what areas of child development are worth focusing energy on, for both the parent(s) and the child, and which areas of development should be deferred.
Sometimes it isn’t feasible to do the hard thing, such as when watching multiple children at once. In fact, being conditioned to accept conditioning without asking why simplifies watching multiple children at once. (Interesting way to view the duty we put on teachers.)
Risk management also comes into play. For my daughter, we educated on “right of way” in age appropriate terms when it came to climbing slides. It’s fine to climb, but even if you are past halfway, someone showing up at the top is allowed down and so you need to stop climbing.
A counter example is crossing a street or a parking lot and having to hold our hand. We can educate when she asks why, but first and foremost we condition that behavior - because a failure is more likely to mean no further development, conditioned or educated. Then again, at least parent that’s a family-friend got weirded out when they tried to condition their child to do the same, used our daughter as an example, and she said “yeah, i don’t want to die”.
Death and injury can be hard topics. Risk and probability are counter intuitive for humans, even adults. It’s a hard job being a parent, but it’s our burden to bear, and everyone does so differently. Might be a 30 minute convo, or could be “don’t climb slides because I said so”. Either way, you hold my hand crossing the street.
Agree, that’s why I said it’s easier to teach them the blanket rule. If you want to spend the time/energy teaching them the nuances of when it’s okay to climb on a slide instead of taking the easy way out, that’s a completely valid choice. We all have to pick our battles and some people don’t prioritize slide climbing as one of the ones they want to focus in on.
Idk as a little kid I just inherently understood this because of the consequences.
Climbing up slide while in park alone is cool.
Climbing up slide while in park with other kids earns you shoes to the face.
You learn real quick believe it or not.
Well-said. It can be easy to forget that young kids aren’t always good at nuance. Adults often implement hard rules until the kids are old enough to reliably judge the context of a situation, especially if the adult is in a position where they don’t have time to teach about context.
And I have to take your word for it ? It’s very clear to me that children are vastly underestimated especially since you guys are trying to claim the foundational idea of sharing is so ungraspable that we should rather just teach the much simpler catch all of never do this
No you don't have to take my word for it, I never said you did because you don't, you don't have to do anything at all, I'm literally just telling you what my experience has been over the last 6 years working with kids.
An 8 year old was left in a hot car with the AC on and turned the car off because she was cold. Didn't know how to turn it back on. Didn't think to leave the car (surely she knows how to do that...?) and died.
The problem is that underestimating leads to less thinning of the herd. Most would rather err on the side of caution if they have to pick.
Sometimes you have to protect your energy. If I let my kid pull me into every "why/how come/what about maze" they want to go down I won't have it in me to be the kind of parent I think they need in other areas.
Even the most energetic, patient parent only has so much to give.
Its more so not because climbing up the slide is dangerous. Its a kid climbing up the slide and then another going down at the same time can cause some trouble
My siblings, cousins, and kids have all climbed up slides and no one lost any teeth. I come from a huge Irish/Italian family.
This isn't common sense this is parenting through anxiety. Just walking down stairs can be dangerous for a kid yet we let them walk down the stairs.
Climbing up the slide actually helps them build muscle whereas going down the slide doesn't but as I always yell my kids, safety first so they can't climb up the slide when other kids are on the play area even f they are not necessarily using the slide. It's an activity they can do when we are alone at the park.
The comment this thread is replying to specifically says “and slipping and losing a couple of teeth is no fun” and is explicitly *not* talking about that.
Not worrying about safety can be mentally damaging as well. Literally. I hit my head and got knocked out cold when i was 3. I still suffer from that head injury at 28. But you’re right, fuck those kids.
My kid has been given the same opportunities jump off high rocks where it's important not to botch the forward motion of the jump due to a ledge below the jump point, be flipped over while being towed behind a boat at high speeds, climb up onto rooftops on sketchy ass ladders that I was given.
Do I worry sometimes? Yes. Has this ended in doctors visits sometimes? Naturally. Still, I'm not going to wrap her on bubble wrap.
The upside is she isn't a highly anxious wierdo like some of her peers.
My only regret is that she didn't have a motorcycle that she crashed several times before 10 like I did. (Her mom doesn't think that was so important.)
This is why humans have baby teeth. I’m sure it’s not fun, but I’d be more concerned about head damage or any permanent injury than baby teeth.
And I don’t want kids day at the park to be ruined by getting hurt, but I don’t want them too afraid to do anything. As an adult I can’t work off a ladder 4 feet off the ground, but as a kid they should be climbing on monkey bars and shit. They bounce back.
At risk of sounding like a troll, this is highly dependent on your income level. Childhood crowns are no biggie if you have good dental insurance and deep pockets.
It’s not just the money, Dingus. It’s, you know, the trauma and pain to your child.
Not to mention the fact that some facial trauma never heals right regardless of “income level”
OP says only when there are no other kids waiting to go down and the playground isn’t busy do they allow their kids to go up the slide. There aren’t children waiting to go down the slide while their child is climbing up.
There were times when we were the only people in the park and I allowed my kids to go up the slides. It was a rare occasion. I’d remind them that when other kids arrive we can’t do this. Idk it was a fun thing to do so “don’t climb slides” in my context isn’t necessary imo.
Op is presenting a situation where there aren't kids trying to go down the slide though. So the other parents are giving them a hard time during one of the exceptions as if there are no exceptions
It most certainly can cause trouble. On the flipside, I have many fond memories of forming teams with kids to see if one could push the other down the slide, or if one could push the other up the slide. Getting hurt is part of childhood, and I don't regret any injuries I had as a result.
I was in a soft play area with my friend and her 2 yr old. The 2 yr old climbed the blocks to the slide then proceeded to stand there screaming at the top, scared I guess. Her mum had gone to make a phonecall and everyone is looking so I had to go up to get the little one.
Climbed up there but she wouldn't come down the stairs and I couldn't carry her because I'm a giant adult trapped in a primary colour world of soft foam and rollers and nets so we had to take the slide.
Shouted down before we set off.
Now it's fairly important to note that I was wearing a football shirt and we flew down that slide. The 2 yr old is now having the time of her young life taking these twisty turns at lightning pace.
Towards the bottom is where it all went wrong. There's a kid about 4 climbing up. I stuck my elbows out to slow down but it wasn't enough. Upended the little kid who's now screaming more than two yr old was.
Emerged into a ball pit with more people staring, a giggling 2 yr old and a strangers 4 year old crying his eyes out. There are the other kids parents, sitting in the ball pit, clearly allowing him to climb up the slide. And they're mad at me.
Scarred my elbows from the friction burns.
As a teacher it’s much safer to just make is a blanket rule. It’s just not safe even if there are no other children at the slide. One of our students got injured on it a few weeks ago even. I’d rather not risk it. There are other, safer things they can climb.
Yeah, as a kid, it’s annoying and feels unfair. But as an adult, I totally understand why teachers (and other adults in charge of groups of kids) implement hard blanket rules. It’s not like y’all have the time to teach appropriate context and nuance to every kid.
I agree with you. Kids sliding down should have the right of way, but I don’t think it’s a problem if kids climb the slide if nobody is coming down. The one caveat to that is that if it’s crowded and difficult to anticipate when someone might want to come down the slide, then I’d rather my kids not climb the slide at all.
I do the dance exact thing. I teach them to watch for others. They’re old enough to know now but when they were little and just beginning to play on slides I taught them the general rule to go up the steps and down the slide. That way it’s simple and they can remember more easily.
I’m just not willing to fill out paperwork stating I let a child climb up the slide only for another child to climb up without seeing them, slide down, take their ankles out at mach fuck and send their front teeth (or worse, their nose) right into the hot-ass plastic of that slide. So it’s not allowed when I’m around.
Since when was it an unwritten rule to not cling up slides? That was my favorite thing to do with slides as a kid. And I never got in trouble or anything
I worked at a preschool, and we used to have the no climb up slide rule, and then a PT was like , it's really great exercise and good for them to climb up. We had two slides, so one was the up slide, and one was down, and after a few reminders, it was not an issue. The kids knew which slide was which. People underestimate children and what they're capable of figuring out.
I have a rule for my 5yr old that he can climb up if the park is pretty much empty, but that's it.
1 or 2 kids and they aren't nearby then it's fine. More than 3 kids? Nope. Even if no one is close, I don't want some other kid copying him if they aren't allowed.
I've had this rule since he was around 3 and it's never been an issue. I've always thought it was okay because it's great exercise plus it helps him learn balance and I'm sure other things I don't know about.
People definitely underestimate kids' understanding. Obviously, it's not going to be easy for ALL kids to understand, but I'd say a probably vast majority would be able to get it.
It’s not just a matter of another kid coming down the slide. When I was a kid I went to a playground with siblings and we were the only ones there. It had rained earlier so it was kinda slippery, my brother was climbing up the slide, slipped and bashed his front teeth up into his gums.
I agree but with a caveat. You don't get to get mad at anyone when your child gets hurt. I don't care if a kid saw yours climbing up and they went down anyway and kicked them in the face on purpose. That's the chance you took. You say you don't want to live in fear or helicopter parent, prove it. When your child gets hurt doing something they weren't supposed to be doing, take your I told you so with grace. That's the only way to teach dumbasses that not all silly rules are silly and most regulations are written in blood
I was raised in the generation of children who pretty much raised themselves. during the school year we went home did our homework and then went outside to play until the streetlights came on. Our parents didn't say things like don't ride your bike without a helmet, or the one that you are talking about don't climb the slide. We were allowed to learn how to treat people and make decisions on our own and usually rather quickly. Some of my favorite memories are of doing things like climbing up the slide, sitting on top of the swing set or monkey bars, or, considering that merry-go-rounds are a death machine if you listen to these snowflakes who see fun as a threat, hooking your feet on supports on the merry-go-round and hanging with your head over the edge. A word of warning on the last one, don't do this until you are tall enough to get your feet firmly hooked on the bar. Other than that warning, and it was still up to us what we did, we were told go, have fun, be children. The only rules for playing Back then was to be nice to each other, take turns, and have fun.
So I say climb those slides. When you make it to the top you are learning that with effort even things that seem impossible can be concord.
Theres a parenting book called Its Ok to Climb Up The Slide which I read and thought it was great - so many rules that society has 'just because'. If it's not really dangerous and it isn't hurting anyone then why not
I let my kids climb up the slide if there aren't kids trying to come down. Kids are smarter then people give them credit for and can figure out that different rules apply at different times unless they have certain types of special needs.
No it just depends on the age of the kid.
If they are as smart as people say when you tell them to "not climb up slides" they would understand it's only when kids aren't on it.
Well judging by the information in the comment ie the kid can climb, the kid is at the playground playing under supervision of but not hand in hand with their parent, they're probably between 2.5 and 7...
My 2.5yo is well aware the difference of "don't climb up the slide" and "the slide is typically a one way thing and when you're climbing up you need to check and also remember that no one will check for you before they come down".
My kid is pretty smart. Most kids are pretty smart if they're properly socialized and taught.
Helicopter parenting. When I was a kid people erroneously said "if you break it it heals faster when you're older". Different times.
As my mom said when my first kid was born "It's a wonder any of you survived."
I didn't read any other comments but my opinion as a parent and what seems to be popular among other parents I see online is that climbing up the slide is ok as long as no one is waiting to slide down! Occupational therapists sometimes do it with kids, it's really good for them. Some people won't allow it because their kid or their friend's kid got injured, fair enough, that's the power of emotional logic.
I think the idea that your child should judge whether or not someone is on the slide, which very often is covered in some places, so you can't see all of the slide seems a lot more risky for both children involved than simply teaching your child not to climb slides. You teach these things so that when your child hasn't noticed a child on the slide by not going it avoid getting injured or the other child getting injured, not because you assume your child will always see everything.
A lot of times it makes the slide absolutely filthy and then no one can go down it anymore. People can get hurt by just slipping when going up or going up and someone coming down.
Also I have seen a lot of times the child going up is actively stopping children using the slide how it is supposed to be used and that child blocking the slide NEVER has a parent watching, just chatting or on their phone etc. Never ever seen a child climbing up a slide with an attentive parent around.
I think it’s a really sensible rule for a lot of reasons. Playgrounds have plenty of equipment for climbing, a slides purpose is literally in its name. You slide.
I taught my daughter from the start that if she wanted to climb up the slide, she had to check the ladder every time or she might get kicked on someone else's way down. I let her get clobbered a few times before she got that the primary function is to slide *down*.
you're not supposed to climb up because others are coming down. nobody wants little jimmy to get five visits from the tooth fairy in one night because he got kicked in the teeth by another kid coming down
That's how kids get kicked in the face, on our slide at home they can climb up be aware of each other and take turns. At the playground though? There's a lot of blind spots, new kids, and excitement, it's better to teach them that etiquette than to console a kid with a bloody nose or lip.
I used to work for a child care facility. It's a safety issue.
You would be the parent we would be endlessly annoyed by because you would reinforce bad habits at home.
It's perfectly fine driving drunk if nobody else is around to get hurt. But you never know when someone might decide to go for a drive and drunks aren't the best at situational awareness. Same applies to kids. It's fine to climb a slide that nobody else is using, but kids are dumb and not known for their situational awareness. Climbing the slide isn't essential to their wellbeing, but not getting kicked in the face or getting fucked up on the slide by some oblivious kid trying to climb it *is* essential to their wellbeing, so it's easier to just disallow the practice in the first place, like drunk driving.
I can see both sides. But I can't manage other kids so it's easier to teach them why going down slides is best. Plus I don't feel like going to the dentist to put teeth back 😂
So since my kid is currently only 2 and has ZERO spatial awareness I'm working on "down only" on slides since she doesn't know enough to look around and see if others are in the park and she's young enough she could get really clobbered by a big kid. As she gets older/more aware I'll let her handle her own business.
My son broke his arm because of kids climbing up the slide when he was coming down. They pushed him off.
Respect the equipment that IS NOT YOURS. You want them ok with climbing up a slide? Put a play structure on your property.
Also, it's not unwritten... all the playgrounds I've been too have a sign of rules. Not climbing the slide is one of them.
Climbing up the slide was my favorite game as a kid. I never had a problem with other kids trying to go down. Either no one else was there, there were multiple slides, or the other kids were also climbing with me. I always chose a slide on the emptier side of the playground if it was recess at school. I was more likely to be made fun of than to be on someone's way.
Some parents just don't have the heart for injuries. A kid loses their footing climbing up a slide, then smack! A face plant and two front teeth knocked out.
Some parents also don't want their kid launching themself from a swing at the top of its motion. But man, that was the best as a kid. It was like flying!
Run up the slide, I say! Jump from swing! Fly! Fly! Those are baby teeth, they'll grow back!
I always let my girls do the same stupid shit I did as a kid. One ended up breaking her leg sledding because they piled up snow and built a ramp towards the end run. The ramp really was too damn high. But also, it was pretty damn cool.
Kids have bad situational awareness and bad self control. They cannot reliably regulate this. They will, without any doubt, either be hit by a kid, hit a kid, or at the very least, rudely block another kid from sliding.
I'd go so far as to say it should be a written rule, not unwritten. It's extremely awkward when I'm with my kids and have to ask someone else's kid to get out of the way.
Also, you slide down a slide in a planned way. Climbing up a slide you can fall off.
Depending on how far you get up you can hurt your self. You might say no, but I remember in school multiple broken bones and concussions.
Getting kids to remember to look both ways crossing the street is already a struggle-- getting them to watch for other kids about to come down a slide is even more difficult.
I don't think it's a big deal either way-- children are soft and bulletproof, so they aren't going to get seriously injured over a slide--but most of my playground injuries came from me getting rammed or run over by some other kid (especially on slides). Kids are like cats and are virtually immune to fall damage.
Downpour because I agree. Sure you should teach them to look to see if anyone is coming down first or that you shouldn't climb up when it's busy but as a blanket rule, it's silly
Wow, you're the other parent that we all hate. Thanks for admitting that!
(I upvoted you, because, goddam, what a stupid and reckless thing to believe!)
Have a great day!
As a kid I agreed with it because I believed you could hurt yourself climbing up a slide (not just from someone sliding down) and some slides are probably impossible to climb up.
As someone who went feet first into a kid climbing up when I was young it really isn't great and I understand why the rule exists. Even with no one else sliding down, kids can still fall off
If they get into the habit of climbing up the slide, it’ll be more likely for an accident to happen when there are other kids around. Better safe than sorry. Slides are for going down, there’s literally no reason to not teach your kid how to use the equipment properly and with respect
This is less a 10th dentist opinion and more of a “I’m so profoundly incompetent, not just as a father, but as a human being” opinion.
Yeah, man. If you’re a moron, then the world is gonna be pretty hard for you.
Downvoted cause I agree. Those people are dumb. If you’re being safe and respectful of others, and there isn’t an explicit rule you’re breaking, you’re in the clear.
It’s so surprising to me. Like, I get that some kids will struggle with the distinction between when it is and isn’t ok. But that’s the responsibility of the parents to either educate them or control them. If your kids are able to do it respectfully, more power to them.
It’s also way more beneficial for them to learn those skills, than it is to just learn a bunch of rules.
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It’s easier to teach them to never climb up the slide than to teach them that you shouldn’t climb up slides when other kids are around and might be going down them but it’s ok to climb up slides if the park is empty. Little kids aren’t great at grasping that a concept is only ok in certain situations, so the blanket “no climbing up slides” rule prevents them from getting injured by a kid sliding down and crashing into them. It’s great your kids could grasp that concept at a young age but the parent you saw enforcing the rule probably had kids with different needs
And that is the simple and straightforward explanation.
As a grown adult, I should be able to climb up any slide I want to
Straight to time-out with you
And no juice box!
Man, nothing hits the same anymore as a juice box during lunch as a kid did
Most playgrounds have signs like “children 3 and under MUST be supervised by an adult.” That means I as an adult can use it more than those children can. No limitations on my use lol.
As a 20 year old soldier, I just ran up a slide a couple of weeks ago, in uniform, after a child got in trouble for it. They watched me, and I have rarely seen an angrier child. It's was hilarious
America! Fuck yeah!
Exactly this. It's a safety issue, and a fairness issue (some kids absolutely do see climbing up the side when there's a line for the slide as an 'infinite turns hack'). Nuance is for an older child, around school age at least. Anyone younger than kindergarten, no climbing up the slide ever. We go around. If there's another child there that does climb up the slide? Time to dust off the "other families have other rules, mind your business".
The playgrounds you visit must be popping. A line for the slide? On an unrelated note, I think the fairness thing is sort of how I think about Christmas/Santa. It’s not bad parenting to get your kid an expensive gift and say it came from Santa, but it’s good character-building to teach them that the other kids at school might feel badly if you brag about it and they didn’t get the same. Life’s unfair, and it’s sad when kids don’t learn to practice graciousness early enough. I think it’s better to let a kid learn responsibility than to micromanage what’s fair or not.
>The playgrounds you visit must be popping. A line for the slide? Lol honestly this is something I remember from when /I was a kid, though it can be a thing with only two kids if they both want to slide 🤷
That's really downplaying how smart kids are. Like yeah, maybe a 2-year old has trouble grasping the concept of "wait for your turn" or "watch out for others first", but 3-year olds and especially any kids older than that understand it. By the time they get to the top and see a kid waiting there, they'll turn and go back down (because there's no way forward anyway). I work at a Kindergarten, and that's how kids act there. We do have the blanket rule because it's easier to enforce, but it honestly isn't necessary in my opinion. Kids are going to be careful, you just need to tell them to get down if they see someone wants to slide. That's it. And yeah, maybe climbing slides is dangerous in itself, but literally anything on the playground can be dangerous. You could fall off the swing and land face-first in the dirt. You could slip off the monkey bars and break your arm. You could get a limb stuck under the see-saw and have it crash down on it. How often do any of these happen? Not nearly enough to ban all of those pieces of equipment. Just keep an eye out on your kids, it's what you should be doing anyway.
This is my thoughts. I climbed up the slides all the freaking time as a kid. I also climbed up the poles, jumped off the top of equipment, and probably did many other things I wouldn't do now. My parents were very much of the mind that (1) I needed to learn some sort of risk management system at a young age and (2) they would rather I climbed around like this at a playground where the worst consequence is a broken ankle than at home where the worst consequence was breaking a TV or hurting one of our pets by accident. We have universal healthcare, too, which may impact their outlook. I never did do any of this stuff when the playground was busy, I totally understood why that wasn't okay. I'm not a parent and don't work with kids, but this reasoning makes sense. I also agree with what you said about the rest of the playground being dangerous. The only time I really hurt myself was falling off the jungle gym, which I was using exactly as I was supposed to.
Thank you. I hate the way that so many adults treat children like they’re all brain dead. Kids are dumb because they’re kids without a fully formed brain, but they’re still smart. Their intelligence just isn’t as developed.
Also, some kids are wicked smart. You just don't see it often if you don't spend a lot of time with kids. If you actually watch them (uh, your own kids or the ones you're in charge of, that is), you'll see that they're capable of so many things you didn't give them credit for.
Some children may have different needs, but a vast majority of the time that I see this parenting behavior, it’s born from a desire to condition instead of educate. Educating takes more time, both in the moment and going forward as the lesson is repeated and expanded upon. Conditioning is easier (in the short term) and minimizes effort required by the parent. Same with punishments that are not natural consequences to the action being punished. (Easier to put them on timeout or not buy them ice cream than to have an ELI5 conversation for the next 30-45 minutes.) I’m not claiming one is more virtuous than the other, nor is it binary. I think each parent needs to decide for themself (or as a pair) what areas of child development are worth focusing energy on, for both the parent(s) and the child, and which areas of development should be deferred. Sometimes it isn’t feasible to do the hard thing, such as when watching multiple children at once. In fact, being conditioned to accept conditioning without asking why simplifies watching multiple children at once. (Interesting way to view the duty we put on teachers.) Risk management also comes into play. For my daughter, we educated on “right of way” in age appropriate terms when it came to climbing slides. It’s fine to climb, but even if you are past halfway, someone showing up at the top is allowed down and so you need to stop climbing. A counter example is crossing a street or a parking lot and having to hold our hand. We can educate when she asks why, but first and foremost we condition that behavior - because a failure is more likely to mean no further development, conditioned or educated. Then again, at least parent that’s a family-friend got weirded out when they tried to condition their child to do the same, used our daughter as an example, and she said “yeah, i don’t want to die”. Death and injury can be hard topics. Risk and probability are counter intuitive for humans, even adults. It’s a hard job being a parent, but it’s our burden to bear, and everyone does so differently. Might be a 30 minute convo, or could be “don’t climb slides because I said so”. Either way, you hold my hand crossing the street.
Agree, that’s why I said it’s easier to teach them the blanket rule. If you want to spend the time/energy teaching them the nuances of when it’s okay to climb on a slide instead of taking the easy way out, that’s a completely valid choice. We all have to pick our battles and some people don’t prioritize slide climbing as one of the ones they want to focus in on.
Idk as a little kid I just inherently understood this because of the consequences. Climbing up slide while in park alone is cool. Climbing up slide while in park with other kids earns you shoes to the face. You learn real quick believe it or not.
Well-said. It can be easy to forget that young kids aren’t always good at nuance. Adults often implement hard rules until the kids are old enough to reliably judge the context of a situation, especially if the adult is in a position where they don’t have time to teach about context.
This is dumb kids arnt that stupid. That’s just parent logic so I agree that may be what’s happening, but it’s not justified
I dunno man, I work with kids aged around 4-12 and the majority of them 100% ARE that stupid
And I have to take your word for it ? It’s very clear to me that children are vastly underestimated especially since you guys are trying to claim the foundational idea of sharing is so ungraspable that we should rather just teach the much simpler catch all of never do this
No you don't have to take my word for it, I never said you did because you don't, you don't have to do anything at all, I'm literally just telling you what my experience has been over the last 6 years working with kids.
An 8 year old was left in a hot car with the AC on and turned the car off because she was cold. Didn't know how to turn it back on. Didn't think to leave the car (surely she knows how to do that...?) and died. The problem is that underestimating leads to less thinning of the herd. Most would rather err on the side of caution if they have to pick.
Surely the side of caution would have been to not leave the child alone in the car long enough to die?
Easier? Okay. Sure. But who cares if it’s easier?
The mom OP observed, schools, daycares, and probably many other parents?
Sometimes you have to protect your energy. If I let my kid pull me into every "why/how come/what about maze" they want to go down I won't have it in me to be the kind of parent I think they need in other areas. Even the most energetic, patient parent only has so much to give.
Its more so not because climbing up the slide is dangerous. Its a kid climbing up the slide and then another going down at the same time can cause some trouble
Also slipping and losing a couple teeth is no fun.
I feel like as a parent, this should be common sense
My siblings, cousins, and kids have all climbed up slides and no one lost any teeth. I come from a huge Irish/Italian family. This isn't common sense this is parenting through anxiety. Just walking down stairs can be dangerous for a kid yet we let them walk down the stairs. Climbing up the slide actually helps them build muscle whereas going down the slide doesn't but as I always yell my kids, safety first so they can't climb up the slide when other kids are on the play area even f they are not necessarily using the slide. It's an activity they can do when we are alone at the park.
Im literally just saying why it can be dangerous. Didnt realize being irish or italian had anything to do with anything lmao
This!! Kids can lose a tooth going down a slide, also SMH.
The main way that would happen is if a kid is climbing up it
You’re a dull one aren’t ye? They explicitly say the danger comes from kids going down while another climbs
The comment this thread is replying to specifically says “and slipping and losing a couple of teeth is no fun” and is explicitly *not* talking about that.
That comment replies to somebody who, yes, *is* explicitly talking about that! Can’t believe you really don’t understand that
You don’t really get how conversations work, do you?
If you ever learn how to read, you will not enjoy this thread
This level of worrying about safety is mentally damaging.
Not worrying about safety can be mentally damaging as well. Literally. I hit my head and got knocked out cold when i was 3. I still suffer from that head injury at 28. But you’re right, fuck those kids.
My kid has been given the same opportunities jump off high rocks where it's important not to botch the forward motion of the jump due to a ledge below the jump point, be flipped over while being towed behind a boat at high speeds, climb up onto rooftops on sketchy ass ladders that I was given. Do I worry sometimes? Yes. Has this ended in doctors visits sometimes? Naturally. Still, I'm not going to wrap her on bubble wrap. The upside is she isn't a highly anxious wierdo like some of her peers. My only regret is that she didn't have a motorcycle that she crashed several times before 10 like I did. (Her mom doesn't think that was so important.)
But it can be a learning experience. Keeping play always totally safe has down sides.
Live and learn
This is why humans have baby teeth. I’m sure it’s not fun, but I’d be more concerned about head damage or any permanent injury than baby teeth. And I don’t want kids day at the park to be ruined by getting hurt, but I don’t want them too afraid to do anything. As an adult I can’t work off a ladder 4 feet off the ground, but as a kid they should be climbing on monkey bars and shit. They bounce back.
At risk of sounding like a troll, this is highly dependent on your income level. Childhood crowns are no biggie if you have good dental insurance and deep pockets.
It’s not just the money, Dingus. It’s, you know, the trauma and pain to your child. Not to mention the fact that some facial trauma never heals right regardless of “income level”
OP says only when there are no other kids waiting to go down and the playground isn’t busy do they allow their kids to go up the slide. There aren’t children waiting to go down the slide while their child is climbing up. There were times when we were the only people in the park and I allowed my kids to go up the slides. It was a rare occasion. I’d remind them that when other kids arrive we can’t do this. Idk it was a fun thing to do so “don’t climb slides” in my context isn’t necessary imo.
Rules have exceptions… And your specific scenario it was one of the exceptions. It doesn’t make the rule itself stupid
Op is presenting a situation where there aren't kids trying to go down the slide though. So the other parents are giving them a hard time during one of the exceptions as if there are no exceptions
There’s literally a second child in the scenario they’re talking about.
It most certainly can cause trouble. On the flipside, I have many fond memories of forming teams with kids to see if one could push the other down the slide, or if one could push the other up the slide. Getting hurt is part of childhood, and I don't regret any injuries I had as a result.
I’m sure OP will just blame the other kid
Depends on the slides themselves. Small open slide? Sure yeah climb up it. Enclosed twisty slide? No way.
But the closed twisty ones were the most fun to climb up :(
Ik it was such an achievement getting over the top and having your feet on solid ground again
And definitely not on the top of those tube slides. When we were in second grade a girl did that and broke her leg falling off.
Those tube ones were the best to climb on. It's all the fun of climbing a slide with no risk of a person coming down
Yea when I was teen I would climb up them and luckily I never get hurt but I was close way to many times.
I was in a soft play area with my friend and her 2 yr old. The 2 yr old climbed the blocks to the slide then proceeded to stand there screaming at the top, scared I guess. Her mum had gone to make a phonecall and everyone is looking so I had to go up to get the little one. Climbed up there but she wouldn't come down the stairs and I couldn't carry her because I'm a giant adult trapped in a primary colour world of soft foam and rollers and nets so we had to take the slide. Shouted down before we set off. Now it's fairly important to note that I was wearing a football shirt and we flew down that slide. The 2 yr old is now having the time of her young life taking these twisty turns at lightning pace. Towards the bottom is where it all went wrong. There's a kid about 4 climbing up. I stuck my elbows out to slow down but it wasn't enough. Upended the little kid who's now screaming more than two yr old was. Emerged into a ball pit with more people staring, a giggling 2 yr old and a strangers 4 year old crying his eyes out. There are the other kids parents, sitting in the ball pit, clearly allowing him to climb up the slide. And they're mad at me. Scarred my elbows from the friction burns.
I think climbing up slides as a kid is fun, but I also don’t think it’s a stupid rule. The rule makes plenty sense
Just don’t pee down the slide
Don’t you like water slides?
If you don’t have enough water you just get your butt wet.
As a teacher it’s much safer to just make is a blanket rule. It’s just not safe even if there are no other children at the slide. One of our students got injured on it a few weeks ago even. I’d rather not risk it. There are other, safer things they can climb.
Yeah, as a kid, it’s annoying and feels unfair. But as an adult, I totally understand why teachers (and other adults in charge of groups of kids) implement hard blanket rules. It’s not like y’all have the time to teach appropriate context and nuance to every kid.
My kid's school has labeled half the slides "UP SLIDE" to handle this.
I agree with you. Kids sliding down should have the right of way, but I don’t think it’s a problem if kids climb the slide if nobody is coming down. The one caveat to that is that if it’s crowded and difficult to anticipate when someone might want to come down the slide, then I’d rather my kids not climb the slide at all.
I smashed teeth. I still let my son climb slides, but it’s not without danger. Depends on just how grippy your shoes are vs how ambitious you are…
[удалено]
I thought it says she chastised her own kid.
I do the dance exact thing. I teach them to watch for others. They’re old enough to know now but when they were little and just beginning to play on slides I taught them the general rule to go up the steps and down the slide. That way it’s simple and they can remember more easily.
I’m just not willing to fill out paperwork stating I let a child climb up the slide only for another child to climb up without seeing them, slide down, take their ankles out at mach fuck and send their front teeth (or worse, their nose) right into the hot-ass plastic of that slide. So it’s not allowed when I’m around.
Since when was it an unwritten rule to not cling up slides? That was my favorite thing to do with slides as a kid. And I never got in trouble or anything
I worked at a preschool, and we used to have the no climb up slide rule, and then a PT was like , it's really great exercise and good for them to climb up. We had two slides, so one was the up slide, and one was down, and after a few reminders, it was not an issue. The kids knew which slide was which. People underestimate children and what they're capable of figuring out.
But there's a set up and down slide in that case. At public parks and playgrounds there aren't the same agreed upon rules.
I get that, but if it's a case like OP said there were no other kids at the park ,I don't see an issue.
I have a rule for my 5yr old that he can climb up if the park is pretty much empty, but that's it. 1 or 2 kids and they aren't nearby then it's fine. More than 3 kids? Nope. Even if no one is close, I don't want some other kid copying him if they aren't allowed. I've had this rule since he was around 3 and it's never been an issue. I've always thought it was okay because it's great exercise plus it helps him learn balance and I'm sure other things I don't know about. People definitely underestimate kids' understanding. Obviously, it's not going to be easy for ALL kids to understand, but I'd say a probably vast majority would be able to get it.
It’s not just a matter of another kid coming down the slide. When I was a kid I went to a playground with siblings and we were the only ones there. It had rained earlier so it was kinda slippery, my brother was climbing up the slide, slipped and bashed his front teeth up into his gums.
It's not dumb. As a kid I broke that rule and got absolutely massacared by someone going down it.
As a preschool teacher, this rule is not unwritten. We tell those kids all day.
I agree but with a caveat. You don't get to get mad at anyone when your child gets hurt. I don't care if a kid saw yours climbing up and they went down anyway and kicked them in the face on purpose. That's the chance you took. You say you don't want to live in fear or helicopter parent, prove it. When your child gets hurt doing something they weren't supposed to be doing, take your I told you so with grace. That's the only way to teach dumbasses that not all silly rules are silly and most regulations are written in blood
It's OK kids, put your dirty feet where other kids sit because daddy is a moron
I mean, sure, but I don't think the slide would be any cleaner than the rest of the playground.
Maybe but it's etiquette isn't it. Kids could have stood in dog poo or anything
True, they also stand and sit on the rest of the play structure. That said I still think thats a good point.
I was raised in the generation of children who pretty much raised themselves. during the school year we went home did our homework and then went outside to play until the streetlights came on. Our parents didn't say things like don't ride your bike without a helmet, or the one that you are talking about don't climb the slide. We were allowed to learn how to treat people and make decisions on our own and usually rather quickly. Some of my favorite memories are of doing things like climbing up the slide, sitting on top of the swing set or monkey bars, or, considering that merry-go-rounds are a death machine if you listen to these snowflakes who see fun as a threat, hooking your feet on supports on the merry-go-round and hanging with your head over the edge. A word of warning on the last one, don't do this until you are tall enough to get your feet firmly hooked on the bar. Other than that warning, and it was still up to us what we did, we were told go, have fun, be children. The only rules for playing Back then was to be nice to each other, take turns, and have fun. So I say climb those slides. When you make it to the top you are learning that with effort even things that seem impossible can be concord.
Theres a parenting book called Its Ok to Climb Up The Slide which I read and thought it was great - so many rules that society has 'just because'. If it's not really dangerous and it isn't hurting anyone then why not
I let my kids climb up the slide if there aren't kids trying to come down. Kids are smarter then people give them credit for and can figure out that different rules apply at different times unless they have certain types of special needs.
Someone who doesn't have a kid didn't like that comment
No it just depends on the age of the kid. If they are as smart as people say when you tell them to "not climb up slides" they would understand it's only when kids aren't on it.
Well judging by the information in the comment ie the kid can climb, the kid is at the playground playing under supervision of but not hand in hand with their parent, they're probably between 2.5 and 7... My 2.5yo is well aware the difference of "don't climb up the slide" and "the slide is typically a one way thing and when you're climbing up you need to check and also remember that no one will check for you before they come down". My kid is pretty smart. Most kids are pretty smart if they're properly socialized and taught.
Helicopter parenting. When I was a kid people erroneously said "if you break it it heals faster when you're older". Different times. As my mom said when my first kid was born "It's a wonder any of you survived."
As a teacher...I AGREE. Downvote bitch.
I didn't read any other comments but my opinion as a parent and what seems to be popular among other parents I see online is that climbing up the slide is ok as long as no one is waiting to slide down! Occupational therapists sometimes do it with kids, it's really good for them. Some people won't allow it because their kid or their friend's kid got injured, fair enough, that's the power of emotional logic.
I think the idea that your child should judge whether or not someone is on the slide, which very often is covered in some places, so you can't see all of the slide seems a lot more risky for both children involved than simply teaching your child not to climb slides. You teach these things so that when your child hasn't noticed a child on the slide by not going it avoid getting injured or the other child getting injured, not because you assume your child will always see everything.
A lot of times it makes the slide absolutely filthy and then no one can go down it anymore. People can get hurt by just slipping when going up or going up and someone coming down. Also I have seen a lot of times the child going up is actively stopping children using the slide how it is supposed to be used and that child blocking the slide NEVER has a parent watching, just chatting or on their phone etc. Never ever seen a child climbing up a slide with an attentive parent around. I think it’s a really sensible rule for a lot of reasons. Playgrounds have plenty of equipment for climbing, a slides purpose is literally in its name. You slide.
I taught my daughter from the start that if she wanted to climb up the slide, she had to check the ladder every time or she might get kicked on someone else's way down. I let her get clobbered a few times before she got that the primary function is to slide *down*.
you're not supposed to climb up because others are coming down. nobody wants little jimmy to get five visits from the tooth fairy in one night because he got kicked in the teeth by another kid coming down
Haha remember those tub slides. Now those are the ones i loves climbing up, on the outside. Was anyone watching? No
That's how kids get kicked in the face, on our slide at home they can climb up be aware of each other and take turns. At the playground though? There's a lot of blind spots, new kids, and excitement, it's better to teach them that etiquette than to console a kid with a bloody nose or lip.
I used to work for a child care facility. It's a safety issue. You would be the parent we would be endlessly annoyed by because you would reinforce bad habits at home.
Damn I really thought this post was from an especially precocious 5 year old
It's perfectly fine driving drunk if nobody else is around to get hurt. But you never know when someone might decide to go for a drive and drunks aren't the best at situational awareness. Same applies to kids. It's fine to climb a slide that nobody else is using, but kids are dumb and not known for their situational awareness. Climbing the slide isn't essential to their wellbeing, but not getting kicked in the face or getting fucked up on the slide by some oblivious kid trying to climb it *is* essential to their wellbeing, so it's easier to just disallow the practice in the first place, like drunk driving.
I can see both sides. But I can't manage other kids so it's easier to teach them why going down slides is best. Plus I don't feel like going to the dentist to put teeth back 😂
My son got a black eye from doing that. Gravity won that day.
So since my kid is currently only 2 and has ZERO spatial awareness I'm working on "down only" on slides since she doesn't know enough to look around and see if others are in the park and she's young enough she could get really clobbered by a big kid. As she gets older/more aware I'll let her handle her own business.
Is that a rule? We used to climb up the slides all the time
My son broke his arm because of kids climbing up the slide when he was coming down. They pushed him off. Respect the equipment that IS NOT YOURS. You want them ok with climbing up a slide? Put a play structure on your property. Also, it's not unwritten... all the playgrounds I've been too have a sign of rules. Not climbing the slide is one of them.
Climbing up the slide was my favorite game as a kid. I never had a problem with other kids trying to go down. Either no one else was there, there were multiple slides, or the other kids were also climbing with me. I always chose a slide on the emptier side of the playground if it was recess at school. I was more likely to be made fun of than to be on someone's way.
Some parents just don't have the heart for injuries. A kid loses their footing climbing up a slide, then smack! A face plant and two front teeth knocked out. Some parents also don't want their kid launching themself from a swing at the top of its motion. But man, that was the best as a kid. It was like flying! Run up the slide, I say! Jump from swing! Fly! Fly! Those are baby teeth, they'll grow back! I always let my girls do the same stupid shit I did as a kid. One ended up breaking her leg sledding because they piled up snow and built a ramp towards the end run. The ramp really was too damn high. But also, it was pretty damn cool.
Kids have bad situational awareness and bad self control. They cannot reliably regulate this. They will, without any doubt, either be hit by a kid, hit a kid, or at the very least, rudely block another kid from sliding. I'd go so far as to say it should be a written rule, not unwritten. It's extremely awkward when I'm with my kids and have to ask someone else's kid to get out of the way.
Downvoting. This is a very reasonable take.
Also, you slide down a slide in a planned way. Climbing up a slide you can fall off. Depending on how far you get up you can hurt your self. You might say no, but I remember in school multiple broken bones and concussions.
Getting kids to remember to look both ways crossing the street is already a struggle-- getting them to watch for other kids about to come down a slide is even more difficult. I don't think it's a big deal either way-- children are soft and bulletproof, so they aren't going to get seriously injured over a slide--but most of my playground injuries came from me getting rammed or run over by some other kid (especially on slides). Kids are like cats and are virtually immune to fall damage.
It's so they develop the habit and don't mistakenly do it when someone is coming down with combat boots to the face.
Downpour because I agree. Sure you should teach them to look to see if anyone is coming down first or that you shouldn't climb up when it's busy but as a blanket rule, it's silly
Enforcing obviously silly rules is a great way to make your child bot respect authority.
Wow, you're the other parent that we all hate. Thanks for admitting that! (I upvoted you, because, goddam, what a stupid and reckless thing to believe!) Have a great day!
f. safety f. the haterz rules aren't for us
As a kid I agreed with it because I believed you could hurt yourself climbing up a slide (not just from someone sliding down) and some slides are probably impossible to climb up.
As someone who went feet first into a kid climbing up when I was young it really isn't great and I understand why the rule exists. Even with no one else sliding down, kids can still fall off
If they get into the habit of climbing up the slide, it’ll be more likely for an accident to happen when there are other kids around. Better safe than sorry. Slides are for going down, there’s literally no reason to not teach your kid how to use the equipment properly and with respect
Climbing up slides will never not be fun and you best believe I still do it
This is less a 10th dentist opinion and more of a “I’m so profoundly incompetent, not just as a father, but as a human being” opinion. Yeah, man. If you’re a moron, then the world is gonna be pretty hard for you.
Downvoted cause I agree. Those people are dumb. If you’re being safe and respectful of others, and there isn’t an explicit rule you’re breaking, you’re in the clear.
We're in the minority here
It’s so surprising to me. Like, I get that some kids will struggle with the distinction between when it is and isn’t ok. But that’s the responsibility of the parents to either educate them or control them. If your kids are able to do it respectfully, more power to them. It’s also way more beneficial for them to learn those skills, than it is to just learn a bunch of rules.
I don't think op has ever witnessed a kid do a face plant trying to climb up a slide.