I think I found the key to the 10-minute free write; read the news first and it will get you fired up with a good topic!

Several communities in the Washington State area have taken it upon themselves to start eliminating swing sets from the schools due to what they are saying is an ‘insurance’ issue. Seems that children are getting hurt on the swings by walking in front/behind while someone is actually swinging. Yes that’s the way it works and for some adult not to take the 30 seconds to explain it to you is where the crime lays.

Removing the swing doesn’t address the issue at hand. The issue at hand is that children are not being taught about consequences; cause and effect. Isn’t that what learning is about? Being shown right from wrong, the idea of learning to cope when your team loses, to get hit and shake it off? Since when do children haphazardly walk in front or behind a person on a swing without understanding they are going to be knocked on their bum or kicked in the head? An escapee toddler on the run, quite possibly, but after that first time accident or even before when first arriving on the playground, why is it not the first thing out of someone’s mouth; the do’s and don’ts? Are we as a society now too busy to teach the children? Too wrapped up on the phone or tablet or whatnot to actually pass down what was taught to us or what we learned along the way?

It is truly a sad state of affairs when swings are being removed and children will no longer feel the rush of the wind through their hair, the fleeting moment of zero gravity, and reaching for the clouds. What is next? No more playing tag because someone tripped on a blade of grass?