" The entire class sprinted to the playground every recess period. There was a broken arm every 4-5 years, but I sure felt like it was worth the risk. And still

" The entire class sprinted to the playground every recess period. There was a broken arm every 4-5 years, but I sure felt like it was worth the risk. And still do." I'd be OK with it if a broken arm wasn't such a dire financial incident. I imagine it is very difficult to let kids do things like climbing trees, playing on monkey bars, or jumping on a trampoline if you are looking at a deductible that a fair chunk of your monthly income (if not all of it). I'll also mention that in the 90's, the city I lived in was working on adding playgrounds to elementary schools because they didn't all have them. The existing playgrounds were put in by parents, which really meant that there weren't playgrounds in poor areas. They weren't building tic-tac-toe on the ground, either. They weren't necessarily metal, but still included slides and climbing and swings.