MyGreenLake.com is reporting that the fence is up at Green Lake Elementary School. School authorities rushed to construct the fence after a student was hit by a car when she ran out of the playground after school hours Jan. 13. The child didn’t suffer any serious injuries, but Principal Joannie Bowers told parents that the collision is exactly the kind of thing she is afraid of.
- Mygreenlake.com
- The brand new fence at Green Lake Elementary
I called Seattle Public Schools and Bowers to find out why they had left a part of the playground unfenced in the first place—SPS didn’t have any information about the long-term history of the fence and Bowers never called back. In any case, the fence is up now, and hopefully no more kids will run out into the street while playing tag.
i grew up in a pretty moderate sized town (40K), and only some of the schools had fenced playgrounds. none of the public parks had fenced playgrounds, even the ones that were on moderately busy or busy streets. i can’t recall it ever being an issue, or a kid getting hurt or anything. of course, i was a kid – i didn’t read the paper.
Need sign on fence: Beware of Kids.
Next step: crate training
solution! fence all streets so the little darlings don’t have anything to learn.
This article and follow-up are idiotic. This is why the conservatives with half brains still manage to hate liberals, look at the examples you lead.
OMG WE NEED A FENCE, OTHERWISE OUR IDIOT CHILDREN WILL RUN INTO THE PATH OF CARS.
WHY WON’T SOMEONE THINK OF THE CHILDREN?!
Leave this Troubleshooter shit to King 5.
What about installing – like fire alarm boxes – in-case-of- emergency crutch stands and cardio defibrillators every 100 yards or so. Suits of armor on the playfields. Iron jocks. Fart masks.
The color of the new fence doesn’t match at all, so ugly.
Once again, one stupid kid ruins it for everybody. Stupid kids.
Need sign in cars – don’t text and drive, the kid you kill could be your own.
@6 would hockey outfits do?
As an alum I am concerned that this won’t solve the problem. The biggest issue I had in the day (early 90s) was that kickballs/basketballs would go over the fence and then we would have to run up to that one opening to get the balls, now there isn’t even that. no more kickballs anymore i guess.
I bet not one kid will give a shit about this fence. If anything, chain-link fences are cool to climb on.
Since all you guys know the secret to teach all 7 year olds to never once run into the street, you should patent that shit and write a how to book. You’ll make a million dollars.
I guess being childless leaves you with the most spare time to think of all the answers.
Electrified?
No?
Meh…
I vote we rename the playground for the first kid to get hit by a car now that the fence is up.
There is a secret to keeping kids from getting hit by cars. And I’ll die with that secret.
Bloggers must really be the bane of any administration, as it seems their attempt at community oversight is really more self-indulgent than anything.
So it takes the blood of a child before the government does something. Hmmm……..I might have a plan………….
I’ll bet I know the secret behind the great absence-of-fence conspiracy: there wasn’t one there before, and it didn’t occur to anyone to put one in.
And seriously, O Judgmental Childless Ones: may you someday have children who are half as quick to judge as you are.
My grandson could get over that fence in 5 seconds.
@13 – There are three words engraved into my brain pan from the late ’40s: STOP – LOOK – LISTEN. It’s no more complicated than that. Childlessness has nothing to do with common sense. Your kids will live (or die) in spite of your best efforts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFGeEhjA7…
Ms Oracle, if you were not childless, you would take a serious interest in child development instead of just tossing out barbs from the peanut gallery. You would learn about the process of decision making in the brains of children. The hot psych term for it today is ‘executive function’, the ability to translate what you know you should do into correct behavior, in spite of distractions or your emotions, which are overpowering forces for young minds.
In other words, children are not simply miniature adults with fewer facts in their heads. If merely knowing that running in the street was dangerous was all it took, we could call 5 year olds adults and save ourselves an enormous amount of parenting.
Dear kids
Don’t play in traffic. Seriously. What the hell, all of you.
I have a 7 year old little boy who has autism. Autism causes him to have poor impulse control. Over the last three years he has learned volumes of information and exhibits much more self-control. He still has moments, especially when he is experiencing high anxiety that he might flee without any regard for traffic. Next year he will be attending a campus that refuses to fence the playground for all of the same reasons that many of you have made in your comments. The school’s teachers, faculty, and myself all believe that we should teach him to “not play in traffic”, “or run into the streets”. In the meantime while we are teaching him control and safety bounds, I would certainly prefer for him not to be hit by a car and killed. We are asking for a fence at our school, because all children deserve a safe place to play, even the special-needs kids.