Hey! Where's the Swings?
“How do you like to go up in a swing… up in the air so blue?” (Robert Lewis Stevenson)
I couldn’t even imagine a park without swings as a child. They were my absolute favorite and the first place I’d run when we got to the playground. I can remember back when, as a toddler, I would be so excited to get into those wood frame “baby swings". Mom or Dad would push from the front and I can still see their smiling faces moving away and then coming closer.
But now, swings are methodically disappearing from parks, playgrounds, school yards, and child care centers. The reasons are nonsensical. Many maintain that swings have no value to children’s development and are hazardous. I would imagine Robert Lewis Stevenson is rolling over.
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