As one’s feet clump across those rock-hard pieces of semi-frozen, compacted wood mulch, the responsible parent is horrified. Aside from the fact that frozen wood mulch is about as soft as granite, visitors are likely to actually be able to feel the crunch under their feet in numerous spots. All one can do is hope and pray that none of the children will fall.
All of which begs the ridiculous question-Isn’t the point of playground surfacing to cushion to ground? To put it bluntly, this is absurd! Is this what park officials and schools are letting kids play on?! Has there ever been a child who didn’t fall at least a couple of times in the course of a good day’s play? How can children be allowed to play on a surface that is as hard as a rock? Has nobody ever heard of broken bones, concussions, spinal injuries?
Upon expressing dismay to the 메이저놀이터 office of the local Park and Recreation Department, the response is generally a patronizing reassurance. After all, this wood mulch, commonly referred to as Engineered Wood Fiber, is a certified product that meets all applicable guidelines, with certifications from the ASTM, CPSC and IPEMA. These are credible entities; and if they aren’t worried, why should parents be concerned?
Obviously, these condescending representatives have never stepped on a playground! Sure, wood mulch is tested. But it’s tested when it’s brand new, leveled to the perfect depth, unfrozen, untouched, and still nice and fluffy, fresh from the tree. It may be safe in the lab-but children play on playgrounds, not in laboratories.
What happens two or three months later, when the mulch has gotten wet and compacted? What happens when that fresh, moist, proven-to-be-fire-resistant wood carpet dries out after a good few weeks in the sun? A couple of months down the line, does anyone bother to check to ensure that it still meets the safety standards? Not the ASTM, or CPSC-that’s for sure. And not the officials in charge of parks and schools either, because they’re smugly relying on a guarantee that’s completely irrelevant in real-life situations.