Yes, elementary schools in Richland, Washington, are bidding farewell to the venerable swing set. The Richland school district is removing the swings from elementary school playgrounds because they are too dangerous — or to be precise, too injurious for the district's insurance companies. And swing sets are probably more dangerous than you realized: About 200,000 kids in the U.S. go to the emergency room each year from swing-related playground injuries, The Associated Press reports, usually from walking in front of or behind a swing in motion.
"It's just really a safety issue," district spokesman Steve Aagard tells KEPR News. "Swings have been determined to be the most unsafe of all the playground equipment." Some parents are supportive of the move to take out the menacing insurance liabilities. Others remember the joy of learning to pump and soar high in the air — and also perhaps the important life lessons from the bumps and scrapes of childhood. Richland is in south-central Washington, west of Walla Walla.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Netanyahu makes controversial addressSpeed Reads Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to Congress denounced Gaza war protestors
-
Twisters review: 'warm-blooded' film explores dangerous weatherThe Week Recommends The film, focusing on 'tornado wranglers', stars Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell
-
The US presidents who decided not to run for a second termThe Explainer Joe Biden's decision to end his re-election campaign was shocking, but there's a long history of presidents who've bowed out on a chance at four more years
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescueSpeed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
-
More than 2,000 dead following massive earthquake in MoroccoSpeed Read
-
Mexico's next president will almost certainly be its 1st female presidentSpeed Read
-
North Korea's Kim to visit Putin in eastern Russia to discuss arms sales for Ukraine war, U.S. saysSpeed Read
-
Gabon's military leader sworn in following coup in latest African uprisingSpeed Read
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstancesSpeed Read
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2Speed Read
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governorSpeed Read
