Controversial Push To Remove Monkey Bars From Playgrounds

This popular playground equipment is about to become the next victim of the fun police, but are monkey bars really too dangerous for our kids?

Monkey bars are set to be removed from playgrounds around Australia after child healthcare experts claimed that they are one of the leading causes of injuries in young children The Daily Mail reports. With emergency rooms crowded enough, it was found that there has been a 41% increase in hospital presentations as a result of injuries sustained on monkey bars prompting the push to have them banned.

No Longer Appropriate

Despite efforts to improve monkey bar safety, including a reduction in the height of the equipment to 2.2m and the softening of the surface beneath, Professor David Eager from UTS, chairperson of the committee looking into the ban, still believes they will need to be phased out in favour of space nets and spider webs.

Speaking to The Age, Mr Eager said, “Monkey bars were ok when I was a kid 60 years ago, but they’re not an appropriate form of play equipment. Most councils and schools have been pulling them out and replacing them with spatial nets, but not as quickly as we would like.”

Ban Is Ridiculous

In a segment on Today about the ban, most people were vocally opposed to monkey bars disappearing from our playgrounds. Some of the comments included:

“Just ban everything stick our kids in a bubble wrapped box with an ipad for the rest of their lives… ”

“Let’s take away a source of fitness and exercise for kids. Let’s replace it with recharging docks and more apps so our younger generation can contribute to child obesity figures. We have all done things as kids that may have been questionable and may have caused an injury, but it’s these life experiences that we learn from.”

“Why don’t we just stick them in a glass cabinet and just look at your kids that way they will never endanger themselves…boring. Life comes with ups and downs, its called resilience. You’re not doing the kids any favours by wrapping them up as you won’t be here forever to look after them”

Safety Gone Too Far?

Monkey bars have been a playground staple for so long that we can’t help wondering if this is safety gone too far. After all, can we really wrap kids in cotton wool forever? Climbing a tree or taking a gymnastics class could be just as dangerous, with the potential for similar injuries. However, we think it is the unsupervised, incorrect usage of monkey bars that makes them a culprit in children’s upper limb injuries. It’s a difficult one, but we’re pretty sure most kids will still find a way to injure themselves at the playground even with a monkey bar phase out.

Do you think monkey bars should be banned to prevent injury? Let us know in the comments.

112 Comments

- - mom134362 said
  - 29 Nov 2018
    1:49 am
If we are banning things that kids get hurt maybe we need to ban school my 2 boys are in year 6 and year 4 and I get a phone call from the school at least 6 times a team to say there have gotten hurt. One of those times my youngest broke his arm playing sport which the government say kids have to do

- - ralu said
  - 28 Nov 2018
    9:11 pm
Let’s wrap them in cotton wool … How about that ?

- - rnash02 said
  - 28 Nov 2018
    8:07 pm
No let kids be kids, accidents happen all the time, if they dont have monkey bars to climb on they will just find something else to use.

- - mom331927 said
  - 28 Nov 2018
    9:17 am
Leave the monkey bars alone! They are so much fun and we really don’t need to take away more outside play from the already technology loving generations. My children and I still love to play on monkey bars!

- - mom81879 said
  - 28 Nov 2018
    7:38 am
Kids can fall out of bed and break their leg! You can’t eliminate everything that has caused injury to someone. How many people play on monkey bars every year and how many are seriously hurt? PC police going too far again

- - mom176887 said
  - 28 Nov 2018
    7:36 am
There is one council that has just installed one in the ‘adult gym’ area of it’s fitness circuit!!!. I think it is more dangerous there, as oldies without the skill have a go at getting fitter! They could easily be lowered so that you can just bend your knees or straighten to touch the ground… not so much for ‘safety’ in case you fall but so you don’t over do it. But then I guess everyone is a different height. What doesn’t help is all the hard stuff under them in some kids playgrounds, or woodchips that get kicked away leaving an even bigger drop than intended.

- - Myrlie said
  - 28 Nov 2018
    7:19 am
Agree with what many others have said. Banning the monkey bags is taking an important fun but skill building piece of equipment. As parents we are encouraged to get the kids outside, away from screens but if they keep taking play equipment away, there will be nothing left.

- - MuthaNita said
  - 28 Nov 2018
    7:00 am
Nope. Part of the fun for me as a kid was practicing until I got good enough not to fall off. What’s wrong with kids having a fall every now ad then? Taking kids to the ER in many of these cases was most likely precautionary. If any equipment needs looking at to make it safe I’d point to flying foxes – the new versions have such a sudden and full on stop point that kids get launched off them regularly. I even tried one my self and was damn near unseated.

- - Mum2archer said
  - 28 Nov 2018
    6:06 am
Goodness, Leyte remove everything, and all walk around in bubble wrap! The world is seriously going mad

- - Ellen said
  - 28 Nov 2018
    5:40 am
Yes, safety gone too far !

- - mom74005 said
  - 27 Nov 2018
    10:54 pm
They can be a little dangerous, but how else do you learn to fall by bending your knees.

- - nealsq said
  - 27 Nov 2018
    10:50 pm
this is getting ridiculous, kids learn by doing, let them learn while being there to offer support or catch them if they fall but you have to let them try or they will never succeed

- - Cookfromscratchmum said
  - 27 Nov 2018
    10:39 pm
I don’t think they should be banned it’s silly to do so

- - Amanda Holland said
  - 27 Nov 2018
    10:34 pm
Wow I’m surprised it’s taken them this long to start I the monkey bars!
Monkey bars are an essential part of growing up, learning to use their upper strength, that feeling of achievement be finally being able to make it from one side to the other

- - mom290396 said
  - 27 Nov 2018
    10:01 pm
Monkey bars is an age old piece of playground equipment! Kids have been falling from them since they were first invented. They are a vital part of development, they allow upper body strength, coordination , gross motor skills and wait for it…. fun!
- mom93821 replied
  
  28 Nov 2018 , 5:35 am
  I agree – monkey bars are a whole lot of fun!
- - mom185490 said
  - 27 Nov 2018
    9:05 pm
This is ridiculous. We are trying to build some in my backyard for my little monkeys. They do Parkour, Gymnastics, Mountain biking and soccer. if they get hurt, they will learn how to get back up again. Its called resilience.

- - LuckyMum said
  - 27 Nov 2018
    8:11 pm
Oh please ! Let the kids play !!

- - mom7108 said
  - 27 Nov 2018
    7:52 pm
Those netted pyramids are so much more dangerous – they sway, they get rocked and the height the kids can get to is ridiculous! I heard of a child being helicopter lifted to hospital after falling from one.

- - mom70876 said
  - 27 Nov 2018
    7:50 pm
Equipment is not the problem. Parents who don’t watch their children (b/c they’re on their phones) are the problem. Let’s ban smart phones instead.

- - mom93821 said
  - 27 Nov 2018
    7:42 pm
Monkey bars can be a risk along with all other equipment. However; I do not think they should be banned. I sustained several injuries on them when I was a child, but still loved them!