Safer Playgrounds: Assessing Layout, Supervision, and Staff Training.

Recess provide valuable learning opportunities. Taking short breaks throughout the school day seems to be help some children be aware inside the classroom (Pellegrini and Bjorklund, 1996). And play can be quite a powerful predictor of children’s competence (Pellegrini, 1995). Experience about the wooden playground equipment may promote social competence by offering students opportunities to practice potentially profitable new skills, negotiate and problem-solve, and talk with a number of other children (Leff, Power, Costigan, and Manz, 2003).

However, there a wide range of benefits, playgrounds also can pose risks to your emotional and physical well-being of youngsters (U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, 1997). Most injuries in elementary school occur for the playground (Bruya and Wood, 1998). Furthermore, some children find recess unsafe and frightening (Astor, Meyer, and Pitner, 2001), perhaps because bullying as well as other styles of aggression often occur on the playground (Craig, Pepler, and Atlas, 2000; Olweus, 1993). When playground aggression goes unchecked, students may learn that fighting, name-calling, excluding others, and also other antisocial behaviors “work.”

You will need to measure the structure and operations of playgrounds along with their supervision regularly. It's also beneficial to evaluate systems of staff communication and follow-through relevant to playground incidents. Finally, it is beneficial to consider how playgrounds is capable of supporting a school’s broader goals for student behavior plus a safe learning environment.

The Physical Environment
Evaluating the physical environment of playground areas is a crucial step in improving school safety. First, conduct a visible survey with the playground to evaluate the extent in which these common hazards are present:

Gaps inside fence around the playground.
Access points through the play area on to a street.
Low-hanging branches or shrubs that prevent or limit adults’ capacity to see children, especially about the edges from the playground.
Debris around the playground, just like broken glass.
Barriers to clear line-of-sight supervision, such as concrete walls, other school buildings, or trees.
Large, unsupervised play areas, just like fields.
Dangerous play equipment or ground surfacing material (See Handbook for Public Playground Safety listed in references for detailed guidelines).
Playground Supervision
Quality of adult supervision is very important to developing tweaking an excellent playground. Yet providing high-quality supervision on playgrounds is one of the most challenging challenges facing schools (Thompson, 1991). Common supervision-related problems entirely on playgrounds include:

Deficiency of adult line-of-sight or hearing-range supervision for big parts of the playground.
Absence of adequate adult supervision when playground transitions occur (for example, when students lineup to come back in to a building).
Adults failing to circulate throughout all aspects on the playground as well as perimeter.
Deficiency of adult intervention when children behave aggressively.
Not enough follow-through on reports of playground aggression and bullying.
Limited communication or coordination between recess supervisors and also other school staff about children’s behavior at recess.
Typically, improving supervision takes resources, but you can find low- and no-cost strategies to make existing supervision within the playground more potent. To cultivate high-quality playground supervision, you should consider a number of things.

1. Ratios of adults to children.

Limit the whole number and age range of babies about the playground at the same time. Maintain a respectable adult-to-student supervision ratio from the time that kids are for the playground to when teachers “take over” their classes following recess. Some resources recommend at least the same ratio like for example the classroom (such as, Bruya and Wood, 1998). 

If the playground has high rates of problem behavior or environmental barriers to supervision (such as high walls), add to the variety of adults circulating over the problem areas. 

Take special care we now have enough adults supervising large, open spaces such as fields. Should this be problematic, only permit field use when enough adults is usually give circulate and/or organize field activities. 

2. Working out for playground monitors.

Require a proactive strategy to supervision by giving ongoing education for monitors and enabling the theifs to meet all the time. Specifically, provide training in “active supervision.” This includes circulating continuously through an assigned area, praising positive behavior, and helping children problem solve. 

Assign monitors to circulate through identified zones with the playground. 

Train monitors to deal with physical fights and various dangerous playground situations. Most school districts possess a policy regarding hands-on treating students that balances schools’ responsibility for both student and staff safety. All monitors should receive training and support to take care of these situations. 

3. Routines and communication for playground supervisors

Provide a method of communication (just like hand-held radios) so monitors can coordinate supervision and need additional support if needed. 

Develop a specific routine for transition times to ensure continuous supervision of students. Provide clear-cut guidelines for behavior throughout these times (as an example, assign areas for the children to set up by class). 

Implement a schoolwide system for handling, tracking, and communicating about playground problems and disciplinary infractions. Train monitors to implement this system, and regularly solicit their input and feedback on its usefulness.