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Angry parents remove dangerously overheated playground mats
NY Daily News ^ | July 22, 2008 | JEFF WILKINS, ELIZABETH HAYS and RACHEL MONAHAN

Posted on 07/22/2008 11:55:31 AM PDT by Alouette

These city playgrounds aren't for child's play.

Black rubber mats designed to break a child's fall turn blistering hot in the summer, soaring to higher than 165 degrees, a Daily News investigation found.

Doctors at two city hospital burn units reported seeing 16 to 18 young children with playground burns a year, mostly from the mats under junglegyms and sliding boards.

"I have nightmares," said Anne Casson, whose toddler son, Will, ditched his shoes at Carl Schurz Park on the upper East Side one day last May.

(Excerpt) Read more at nydailynews.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: danger; nannystate; playground
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To: Alouette
How did I survive my childhood?

1. Played baseball un-supervised, no helmets.
2. Bicycles without helmets.
3. Roller skates without knee-elbow pads, helmets.
4. Swimming in pre-EPA rivers.
5. Ice skating/hockey on somewhat frozen ponds, no helmets.

41 posted on 07/22/2008 12:28:48 PM PDT by AU72
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To: Dr. Ursus
Feet-You had feet!

I've got two feet
From my knees to the ground
And when I move them
I walk around
And when I lift them
I climb the stairs
And when I shave them
They ain't got hairs

Sorry, I couldn't resist

42 posted on 07/22/2008 12:29:09 PM PDT by KosmicKitty (WARNING: Hormonally crazed woman ahead!!)
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To: WayneS

In New York City, the alligators are assumed...


43 posted on 07/22/2008 12:29:35 PM PDT by gridlock (Al Gore wants YOU to live like the Flintstones while HE lives like the Jetsons. .. (FREE LAZAMATAZ!))
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To: Alouette
The silliness of nanny state liberalism. Spending your money to make more problems.

There was nothing wrong with sand. But boo whooo, it got in little johnny's eyes and little Jimmy ate it, presumably after the neighbors cat buried it's poo in it.

I don't recall anyone dying from it from the 1900's- up till the time I was born,(50's) and in the 60's and 70's that followed.

After that, it was pea gravel, but skinned knee's became the next cause of little Johnny's tears.

Then of course, steal play structures caused little Johnny to bruise his head, so wood was used instead, then little johnny ate the wood, and began to pee the bed.

It never ends. Perhaps liberals should keep their kids indoors, and leave other kids to play.

44 posted on 07/22/2008 12:29:48 PM PDT by Nathan Zachary
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To: abigkahuna

[we lived in a shoebox]

You had a shoebox??? We lived under some tar paper and had to get up at 3am to beat the garbage truck pickup to find food.


45 posted on 07/22/2008 12:31:32 PM PDT by RetSignman (DEMSM: "If you tell a big enough lie, frequently enough, it becomes the truth")
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To: Future Snake Eater
There was a great playground in Raleigh that uses ground up rubber from old tires as the “sand.”

We used to get the used asbestos they removed from buildings to play with in our sandbox. Sometimes, they threw in some fiberglass insulation material to make it more interesting.

It was really fun.

46 posted on 07/22/2008 12:32:38 PM PDT by Allegra (Ain't it grand? I'm back in the sand...)
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To: gridlock

Right.

Sorry.

My bad!


47 posted on 07/22/2008 12:32:38 PM PDT by WayneS (What the hell is wrong with these people?)
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To: RetSignman
You had UNexploded ordnance? Ours were exploding all the time.

Sout [sic] side of Chicago. We were so poor we had to make our own from scratch.

48 posted on 07/22/2008 12:33:01 PM PDT by 1rudeboy
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To: RetSignman; abigkahuna
You had a shoebox??? We lived under some tar paper and had to get up at 3am to beat the garbage truck pickup to find food.

We lived in a dumpster behind KFC. We never had to chase the garbage truck, but we had to get up early to climb out when the trucks came to clean and empty our home. We sure never wanted for food.

49 posted on 07/22/2008 12:35:31 PM PDT by Allegra (Ain't it grand? I'm back in the sand...)
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To: WayneS
"Just don’t ask me how I know this.

I remember discovering that shot shells placed in that little tie down loop on the forks of my balloon tired bike made a good shot shell holder for those BB gun practice shooting days.

Back in the day, cops never batted an eye to any kid carrying around a pellet gun, or even a shot gun if you were 14 years old.
At 16, we kept a shot gun in the locker at school to take duck hunting after school.

Now a 4 year old playing with a pink cap gun causes alarm and deployments of swat teams.

50 posted on 07/22/2008 12:35:47 PM PDT by Nathan Zachary
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To: Alouette
My beautiful daughter's 17-year-old boyfriend was sliding down the "Silver Bullet", a moderately-sized water slide at

Cincinnati's Sunlite Pool and broke his foot...on the big rubber safety matte they put at the bottom of the pool to keep kids from getting hurt.

You can't write stuff like this!

51 posted on 07/22/2008 12:37:27 PM PDT by 50sDad (OBAMA: In your heart you know he's Wright.)
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To: 1rudeboy
"Sout [sic] side of Chicago"

Hey that's were i was a kid. Aunt Sally's raspberry farm was our turf.

52 posted on 07/22/2008 12:38:12 PM PDT by Nathan Zachary
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To: Alouette

Our friend’s dad bulldozed a huge swath of the forest behind their house, built a backstop, and it was our baseball and football field. I don’t remember seeing an adult down there, ever! Baseball, football, BB guns and mini bikes. No adults allowed. That’s why I turned out so normal! :)


53 posted on 07/22/2008 12:38:13 PM PDT by MarineBrat (My wife and I took an AIDS vaccination that the Church offers.)
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To: gridlock

[single greased pole]

Man, you kid’s had it easy, we had a single strand of barbed wire hanging over a boiling tar pit.

Whiner.


54 posted on 07/22/2008 12:38:25 PM PDT by RetSignman (DEMSM: "If you tell a big enough lie, frequently enough, it becomes the truth")
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To: Alouette

Children should be wearing shoes at a playground or at any other public place. Who knows what is on the ground or what they can step on. Also, I install these mats and can tell you that they are very expensive. They do cut down on injuries and lessen the shock to young bones and joints.

The reason they are black is, I would assume, is aesthetic, mainly because they are not intended to ever be seen. I have never seen just black mats. We always put a light mulch over them usually 4 inches but dependent mainly on the type of mulch used. I think the smart schools, playgrounds etc. just use mulch and nothing else. In my experience, sand is a no-no. It quickly becomes cat poo and where there are kids, they are going to throw sand. The school is quickly filled with kids with eye injuries, sand and cat poo. :)


55 posted on 07/22/2008 12:39:33 PM PDT by WildcatClan (Dear Illegals, You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here.)
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To: Alouette

These posts are hysterical...but this begs the question...plant some dang trees for shade!!!??


56 posted on 07/22/2008 12:39:38 PM PDT by Conservative4Ever
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To: RetSignman
[we lived in a shoebox]

You had a shoebox??? We lived under some tar paper and had to get up at 3am to beat the garbage truck pickup to find food.

Well, yeah, we used to awake at four am to sweep the streets before hiking 35 miles uphill to school with a 400 pound ruck sack filled with rocks to improve stamina (according to dear old dad).

You had a garbage truck deliver food!! Why we had to dive for duck droppings in the lake...and we were THANKFUL!

57 posted on 07/22/2008 12:42:45 PM PDT by abigkahuna (Step on up folks and see the "Strange Thing" only a thin dollar, babies free)
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To: AppyPappy

My kids’ playground flooring is made up of used, cut up tires....going green don’t you know.

Problem is they come up with black shoes, socks and feet.


58 posted on 07/22/2008 12:43:16 PM PDT by Slapshot68
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To: Dr. Ursus

We had cool soft soothing mud puddles. Or hard red clay depending on the weather.


59 posted on 07/22/2008 12:43:36 PM PDT by doodad
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To: Alouette

Let ‘em play midnight basket ball. Its cooler then./sarc


60 posted on 07/22/2008 12:43:46 PM PDT by Don Corleone (Leave the gun..take the cannoli)
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