While on recess duty yesterday I was thinking about something never before touched upon. Are specific items on a child's playground made with a particular sex in mind?
With so many children frolicking back and forth, to and fro, it was mind boggling to see how much energy they can store up during an hour of sitting at tables drawing an ice-cream cone inside a circle. No child can restrain from playing on every piece of equipment during 30 minutes of recess, however I observed certain boys and girls drawn to distinct spots on the playground. Let us begin with the staple of the playground.
Swing Set: The swing set is the first thing that comes to mind when a playground is thought of. It is where Kevin Arnold and Winnie Cooper learned their first lessons on The Wonder Years. Swings are a tricky choice. Girls don't have a purpose on the swing set. They just get on, swing as high as they can and then get off. Sometimes they use them as a seductive trap for men while using their charm and sweetness to exude out of them as they slowly rock from side to side. Yet in general, guys only get on the swing set for three reasons.
1. To measure who is the better man by seeing who can swing higher,
2. Trying to make a full circle around the bar, or
3. Getting as high as possible and then jumping out as far as a human can.
The swings might be the only co-ed outdoor play set. If I had to choose a sex I would say they are geared toward boys for the mere fact that they have purpose when they are on the swings.
Slide: Slides come in a close second in the contest of the quintessential playground item. Guys don't use a slide to go down them. We see a slide as a mountain to be climbed. It is our Everest at eight years old. Girls use the slide for its true purpose. Girls wait in line just to slide down it. Guys use the slide because it is the fastest way down unless their is a fire pole. Girls win with the slide.
In fact, the only time a guy is going to stand in line waiting to spend just a few seconds going back down is if water is running down the slide and their is a drop off at the end into a large pool. Otherwise, we aren't hanging out to slide. We will let the girls do that.
Fire Pole: Fire poles are a young boy's only other option once we are on top of the playground structure. If this is an option for us we will take it every time. Why you ask? Because it gives us a glimpse into the fireman world. Will we enjoy this ride down the fire pole? Are we going to be able to slide down it at 3:00 a.m. when a fire is blazing, because in our young minds this is the only time we will be taken from the fire station?
In a boy's mind, we only see the good things about certain professions. Firemen get to slide down a pole and drive through red lights. Policemen carry guns and shoot bad guys. Astronauts walk on the moon and float in space. We don't realize you can die doing these jobs.
The fire pole is suited for males. It is where we test our sliding skills, because we all know girls only date guys with skills. Actually, I don't know if I have ever seen a girl slide down a fire pole.
Jungle Gym: Hanging upside down while the change we got from our lunch money falls out of our pockets doesn't sound fun to a boy. The jungle gym is a place girls flock to. I don't understand why, but it is. They can hang by their legs for minutes on end. The only reason a boy goes to the jungle gym is to either test each others swinging or hanging ability or to be around a new school crush. Trust me, boys would rather be doing something else than hanging around the jungle gym (did you get that subtle joke). Girls can have their jungle gym.
See-saw: Girls will sometimes sit on the see-saw and gently rock up and down with their friend, but it is for the boy that the see-saw is made. We grab a friend and do one of two things.
1. We push off the ground as hard as possible so our friend will hit with a massive thud and hurt his butt, or
2. Find a way to get higher than the side in the air and jump on it with our friend standing on the lower side so his 70 pound frame will be hurled into the sky.
A boy is in mind when the see-saw is built.
Open Field: Fields aren't really part of the playground, but they are situated near every single one. Girls stay near a playground because the guys are too busy playing either football, soccer or kickball out on the field. We rush out to the grass, pick two captains, choose teams and then play ball. For thirty minutes nothing slows us down and one will only leave the field for three reasons: water, injury or fight. If one of these should occur, the game does not stop. Run and get some water and come back as soon as possible. If your hurt, hobble to the nurse and get it looked at. If two kids have a fight, unless it comes to blows, we don't care. Settle it off the field so we can run the next play. If you count the open field as part of the playground then it is placed for the boys.
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