Playground mats do more than break a kid's fall
Categories: Toddlers, Preschoolers, Kids 5-7, Fun & activities, Health & safety, In the news
Playgrounds have changed a lot since I was a kid. Metal play equipment bolted onto hard concrete pads are a thing of the past. Today, playgrounds are made to be safe, with plastic equipment set atop cushioned surfaces designed to make sure nobody gets hurt while having a good time. For the most part, the changes are a good thing. But while kids may not be leaving layers of skin behind on the boiling hot slides or pavement, the sun can still heat a playground up to a dangerous level.
Anne Casson, a mom in Brooklyn, found this out when her toddler son's bare foot met the rubber safety mat covering a Brooklyn, New York playground. "He stepped onto the black mats and was screaming hysterically," Casson said. "When I picked him up, the skin was just hanging off his feet." That poor child spent four days in the hospital on morphine.
Although a spokesperson for New York's Parks Department says there were no similar incidents reported at any of the city's other playgrounds, doctors say it isn't uncommon. Two city hospital burn units say they see 16-18 young patients each year suffering from playground burns, mostly from the mats placed under junglegyms and slides.
In the hot summer months, those rubber mats can heat up to 165 degrees or more - hot enough to burn the skin in seconds. The city of New York insists their playgrounds are safe and that they have no plans to remove the mats or replace them with the CPSC- recommended lighter-colored ones.
Geoffrey Croft of NYC Park Advocates is outraged. "It is unconscionable that the city continues to install products in playgrounds that hurt the most vulnerable park users - small children," he said. "How many more have to get hurt until someone is held accountable?"
Anne Casson, a mom in Brooklyn, found this out when her toddler son's bare foot met the rubber safety mat covering a Brooklyn, New York playground. "He stepped onto the black mats and was screaming hysterically," Casson said. "When I picked him up, the skin was just hanging off his feet." That poor child spent four days in the hospital on morphine.
Although a spokesperson for New York's Parks Department says there were no similar incidents reported at any of the city's other playgrounds, doctors say it isn't uncommon. Two city hospital burn units say they see 16-18 young patients each year suffering from playground burns, mostly from the mats placed under junglegyms and slides.
In the hot summer months, those rubber mats can heat up to 165 degrees or more - hot enough to burn the skin in seconds. The city of New York insists their playgrounds are safe and that they have no plans to remove the mats or replace them with the CPSC- recommended lighter-colored ones.
Geoffrey Croft of NYC Park Advocates is outraged. "It is unconscionable that the city continues to install products in playgrounds that hurt the most vulnerable park users - small children," he said. "How many more have to get hurt until someone is held accountable?"
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Eileen 7-22-2008 @ 8:54PM
Not trying to sound harsh, but the people held accountable should be the parents who let their children go barefoot in the first place. It's common sense then when it is hot outside the ground would be hot too. If these kids had shoes on they would not have burned their feet, what has happened to common sense?!
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mamaloo 7-22-2008 @ 9:28PM
Wow! Really?
What if the child had fallen? What if the child had lost her balance and put her hands out? What if another child had knocked a boy over? When the bare skin touched the mat , whose fault is it then that the materials chosen for the playground heated up in average sun exposure to levels that could inflict severe burns?
I suppose you've never had a child remove their shoes, either? I suppose you never stood near your child at a playground, chatted with another parent and took your eyes off your child for 20 seconds only to discover they'd gotten themselves into a pickle?
You are amazing! I wish I were as perfect as you! Congratulations on being such an infallible parent with such fabulous advice for all the other parents!
mm 7-22-2008 @ 8:58PM
Haven't these parents heard of broken glass, nails, etc.? Really. Teach your kids to wear their shoes. You are the best protector of your children.
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ashia 7-22-2008 @ 9:02PM
here's a crazy idea: How about putting shoes on your kid when he is out playing on a public play structure.
Its a safety (and hygeine) issue even without the heat factor.
its horrible that the kid was hurt- but does the community at large really need to be responsible for everything?! How about some simple parenting.
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Jenn 7-23-2008 @ 11:24PM
And as another earlier poster said, what if the boy had fallen and burned his hands? Or his leg? Or his face? All while wearing shoes?
Because you know, toddlers (and, surprise, even older kids!) don't always keep their feet when playing...
mamaloo 7-22-2008 @ 9:31PM
We don't have those mats here. Our playgrounds either have pea gravel (which resembles kitty litter, leaves white dust on everything and gets into kids' - and parents' - shoes and sandals) or wood chips. I prefer the wood chips.
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Trissy 7-22-2008 @ 10:03PM
My kids weren't barefoot, but they did fall on the heated surface and it hurt. I agree that kids should have shoes on at all times, but even if they touch the surface with their hands, elbows, knees, etc., it's very hot.
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Eileen 7-22-2008 @ 10:14PM
Hey Mamaloo, putting shoes on your kid is not being an amazing parent, but it is is using common sense, something you clearly lack. Se keep striving maybe one day you will have as much common sense as me and the other ladies who have said the same thing that I said, but I bet the bank that won't be the case. Go ahead, get angry like you usually do when you disagree with someone, your nasty posts are quite entertaining, but guess what........they lack COMMON SENSE!!
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ninainindia 7-22-2008 @ 11:17PM
What's the obsession with wearing shoes? There is nothing wrong with going barefeet. Also mamaloo made some good points about legs, hands, arms atc being burned from the surface not just feet. Maybe you should respond to that part of her post.
mamaloo 7-24-2008 @ 3:04PM
Nowhere in the article did it say that the mother of the burned toddler showed up at the park with no shoes for her son. You have made an assumption that this mother was negligent and lacking in common sense. Is it not entirely possible that the child removed his shoes as many toddlers (heck school age kids, too!) are want to do? Is it possible that the mother saw that the rubber playground surface appeared clear of any dangerous debris and assumed it was probably OK for her son to walk barefoot across it? Is it possible that she made a mistake, an oversight and learned a horrific lesson?
What does this say about you that when reading this article your first instinct is to blast the mother for incompetence? How do you think this mom felt after spending four days in a hospital with her toddler on morphine? Do you believe your comments "people held accountable should be the parents who let their children go barefoot" have helped her and all other children who may be accidentally burned and disfigured in the future? Do you think that maybe this mother has been held accountable for an oversight, accident or mistake through witnessing the disfiguring of her child who spent four days on morphine?
Your lack of compassion for the child and the mother in this incident is rather grotesque. But, thank you for being a shining example of what is wrong with many people in North America: they far more enjoy showing how they are better than others than they worry about improving the world for others.
If my post seem nasty to you, it is only because I am attempting to hold a mirror up for you to examine your own comments. Try having a little compassion and use your precious common sense to realise that accidents happen all the time and parents are not perfect and don't always make the most optimal choices. Moderation in all things is the best route.
K.H 7-22-2008 @ 11:35PM
Sure Ninainindia, there is nothing wrong going barefoot, until you burn your feet so badly your on morphine for 4 days! There is a time and place for barefeet, a playground on a hot day is not the time or the place. You and Mamaloo should get together, neither one of ya have any sense.
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ninainindia 7-23-2008 @ 2:07AM
Why don't you respond to the part that says: what about hands, arms, legs being burned if a child falls down or just touches the ground with their bare hands? Or do you believe all children should be covered form head to toe on a playground, including gloves?
It is irresponsible to have such a hot surface near children.
Tim Davis 8-13-2008 @ 11:35AM
I am a certified playground safety inspector certified by the National Playground Safety Institute. Playground surfacing is tested in the laboratory, and can be tested at the playground, for it's ability to absorb a fall in regards to head injuries. Standard laboratory certification testing measures surface temperatures at 120 degrees F (49 degrees C) unless a higher temperature is specified. I understand the parental role rules - we are responsible for our children. The playground surfacing is made specifically for children to play on in summer, winter or fall. Any surface, any color that can cause a burn is a bad idea. Not all playgrounds are inspected. Call and ask if the playground has been inspected and that the surfacing has been tested at the park. www.azplaygroundsafety,com.
K.H 7-22-2008 @ 11:43PM
Ninainindia, sure there is nothing wrong with barefeet, until your burn your feet so badly that you are on morphine for 4 days! There is a time and a place for barefeet and a playfround on a hot day is not the time or the place!
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Felcisgirl 7-23-2008 @ 12:33AM
Ninainindia, barefoot is not appropriate for a public playground, ever... with the possibility of broken glass or worse lying around, people should be protecting their children.
Personally, before setting my 17 month old anywhere, especially in barefeet, I would have checked the temperature of the ground. My deck can get hot in the full sun, let alone those dark playmats.
On a side note, I personally find it amazing that no one has commented on the fact that the city of NY KNOWS these mats can cause severe burns, and still maintains that they're safe and REFUSES to replace them... besides a parenting mistake (and despite the fact that yes, this is common sense, we do all make mistakes), I find it ridiculous that this would be allowed to continue... How many kids need serious treatment before they're considered dangerous?
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Jenny 7-23-2008 @ 12:37AM
Goodness! Let's play nice, shall we, children?
Yes, children should wear their shoes on a playground. Public ground is full of nasty things and also can get very hot.
However, what kind of idiot chooses a /black, heat-conducting material/ for the ground where children play? It's supposed to break falls, no? It seems to me that a child falling off of a swing and suffering severe burns on, say, their legs and hands...that's worse than if they'd just fallen on concrete.
Five bucks says that a committee is responsible the black mats and also is refusing to replace them due to "budget concerns."
Let sanity reign!
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Dani 7-23-2008 @ 6:55AM
I ran around outside with no shoes on when I was little....so what. Good parenting comes from what morals and standards we teach our kids. And it's kind of funny that "they" tried to make the kids safer and end up hurting them anyhow!
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stefanie 7-23-2008 @ 10:17AM
okay i see this is a big fight already but im throwing myself in the mix anyway. My mother is the Director of a daycare center and before then she has worked at plenty of other centers. In all the centers, they had different "padding" on the play ground wether it be tanbark,mats, or some kind of turf stuff. In the centers that has the mats like in this article i can't help but remember the playground specifically being located in a shaded area. I think that means a lot. If they are going to use something that heats up to 165 degrees on a playground thats not in a shaded area, how can they say its safe? and not to mention feet have NOTHING to do with this, if i took my 2 year old to the playground, there is a 70% chance he will try to crawl around the play ground whether i want him to or not. Now before i get to my son even if only for a split second, if he were to get down on all fours to crawl, his knees and hands and lower legs would touch something that would be so hot it could take off his skin???? how is that safe???
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irresponsible 7-23-2008 @ 12:52PM
It's bad planning and frankly the city should be sued and lose. Those of you so arrogantly stating that keeping shoes on the kids is the answer don't have kids who can play on their own or take their own shoes off, or don't have brains, or maybe both. When I was a kid I walked with my friends / siblings to the local playground and often took off my shoes (which my mom had ordered me to put on) and often burned my feet, but since the ground was ordinary blacktop, I was able to get off it fast enough to avoid serious damage. Yeah, I can control what my baby / toddler does, but when a kid gets older, forget it. And what child have you ever seen who stays on his feet the entire time he's at the playground? People here aren't thinking.
Would you also be OK with them paving the playground with glass shards, since it's the parents' responsibility to protect them from dangerous surfaces?
It's a playground. Parents and kids have a right to assume a basic degree of safety there - at least that the basic parts of the playground are not in themselves a safety hazard. HELLO! Considering the uproar over much less harmful things in this country - a drop of lead paint, a few germs in the water, peanut butter in my kids' school lunch, free McDonalds coupons, and anything Wal-Mart does or doesn't do - I can't believe some of the above responses.
Hopefully they can figure out a way to change to a color that doesn't absorb heat (black - that's just DUMB), without breaking the budget, and before too many more kids get hurt.
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Chris 7-23-2008 @ 1:31PM
Eileen,
It sounds like you're fixating too much on the shoe aspect of this news article. I agree, it's common sense that kids should wear shoes outside, in a city park, for hygiene as well as safety reasons. There's a bigger picture here though.
When was the last time you've been to a playground and not seen a chile fall down? Or a young child crawling on their hands and knees around the base of playground equipment? If, in the fraction of a second, stepping on the surface can remove the skin from the thickest spot of skin on your body, the bottom of your feet, I doubt it would take any less if a child was to fall down and have to push themselves up on their hands. How about falling on their arm? Or the side of the face touching that ground? Is it fair that an unlucky child could fall the wrong way onto their face and get scarred for life over something so simple to fix?
Stop focusing on the shoe aspect and look at the bigger picture.
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