A Different Perspective On A Child's Needs

I sent the following  e-mail this morning. in response to one received from a resident who wishes the town to remove a piece of playground equipment  installed in Confederation Park two years ago. No reports or claims for injury have been received by the town. 

Two mothers who live close by, came to Council in July  to present in opposition to a motion  before Council to remove the equipment.

Good Morning Ms Harris,

I received your e-mail and note your comments. I listened carefully to your presentation when you presented  to  Council in June. I  did not hear a reference to  a specific injury to your child. It was  difficult to understand you due to your lack of composure.

You related an incident and indicated, had you not  been there "within two feet" something terrible might have happened.

In your e-mail, detail of the incident refers to a specific injury. However, it  seems though  you were at hand you did not prevent  your child from "falling on her back, injuring the  pelvic bone and experiencing difficulty in walking for a time as a result of bruising"

Ms  Harris, municipalities provide playground challenging equipment for children to experience and learn. It is the nature of  play. Always striving. Always pushing . Climb higher. Go faster. Always trying to master next steps. When playground equipment no longer provides that opportunity it no longer serves its purpose.

Playgrounds are refurbished on a regular basis. Municipalities invest substantially on carefully designed equipment. Safety standards are imposed and observed.
 

I have known  mothers unwilling to allow children to take any risk at all in order to keep them safe.

I note you carried your six year old down the steps in the council chamber and held her in your arms while you encouraged the child to say what you wanted her to say,into the microphone.

I do not suggest a mother can be too protective or a child can receive too much love.

I do however contend  parents can have different ideas about how best to raise children.

A municipal  council  has a duty to make decisions in the best interest of the  entire community.  To do that responsibly, every perspective must be considered. Nine members are enough to provide what's needed.

I was not a child  protected at all times. I was one of five. Older siblings were assigned the role of caring for younger.

Perhaps not surprisingly, I became  a parent who  does  not believe it's possible that children can  be protected from every possible risk.

I raised seven.

There were bumps and bruises, three cuts that had to be stitched and once I had to  wait twenty-four hours to know if scratches on the surface of his eye would result in blindness for my child.  These were the my worst experiences until they became teen-agers.  Then  the really hair-raising stuff happened.

 No amount of parental pleading and tears was enough to assure me of their safety.
 

In family gatherings, I  still  hear of adventures I knew nothing about and still want to  be kept from me.

I am  mother to  five sons and two daughters now engaged in raising their own.

I  survived.  As will they.  Because that's what we all do.

I will not be  voting  to remove the monkey bars from Confederation Park and replace them with something innocuous that meets your idea that a child's needs can be met without providing  an opportunity to learn how high, how far, how fast they can go without coming to harm.