Playground equipment-Why We Should Share Our Playgrounds
Playground equipment-Why We Should Share Our Playgrounds
Through my research on the shared use of school recreational programs and facilities, I have come to recognize something that I believe is very important.
Educators care. They care about their students. They care about the families of their students. They care about their community. And they care about the physical health and well-being of students, their families, and members of the community in which their schools reside.
I also know that educators can make a difference.
They make decisions about opening school playgrounds, fields, and courts to local families—after school hours, on weekends, and over the summer. They can also reach out to community groups to find new ways to share recreational facilities, so residents have a convenient, safe place to exercise and play. These are powerful actions that impact the health of an entire community.
There is research that supports this belief. Studies conducted in Honolulu, Boston, San Diego, Cincinnati and New Orleans found that children who had access to school recreational facilities outside of regular school hours were more likely to be active. In these communities, educators truly made a difference.
Tho opening school recreational facilities for public use has great potential to help residents of all ages be more active, many schools still don’t do it. School personnel often cite liability, staffing, maintenance, and cost issues as reasons for not allowing the community to use their facilities outside of normal school hours.
These are valid concerns but not without solutions.
There are many ways schools can protect themselves against liability and many opportunities to share costs for staffing or maintenance. Shared (or joint) use agreements, which are often struck between a school and a city or county can help protect schools and create cost-effective solutions for promoting activity.
A new brief from Active Living Research, Promoting Physical Activity through Shared Use of School and Community Recreational Resources, summarizes research on community access to school sport and recreation facilities outside of school hours. It also discusses studies that examine the shared use of school facilities and programs with other community groups or agencies. And provides information to help state and local decision makers and policy-makers address concerns they have about shared use.
Key findings and recommendations in the brief include the following:
1. Children who have access to existing and renovated school recreational facilities outside of regular school hours are more likely to be active.
2. Progress toward opening school facilities for recreational use outside of school hours is slow and some evidence suggests that lower-income communities are less likely than higher-income communities to offer shared use of school facilities.
3. Surveys of school administrators in lower-income communities or communities of color cite issues such as liability, staffing, maintenance and cost as barriers to opening schools for recreational use outside of school hours.
4. The Institute of Medicine recommends that local governments "collaborate with school districts and other organizations to establish joint use of facilities agreements allowing playing fields, playgrounds, and recreation centers to be used by community residents when schools are closed; and if necessary, adopt regulatory and legislative policies to address liability issues that might block implementation."
5. Schools, community groups and local governments can enter into joint use agreements to address the perceived barriers to sharing recreational facilities and programs.
I encourage you to share your experiences—success stories and challenges—related to opening school recreational facilities to the public, or sharing programs or facilities with community groups or agencies. We have a lot to learn from each other.
Through my research on the shared use of school recreational programs and facilities, I have come to recognize something that I believe is very important.
Educators care. They care about their students. They care about the families of their students. They care about their community. And they care about the physical health and well-being of students, their families, and members of the community in which their schools reside.
I also know that educators can make a difference.
They make decisions about opening school playgrounds, fields, and courts to local families—after school hours, on weekends, and over the summer. They can also reach out to community groups to find new ways to share recreational facilities, so residents have a convenient, safe place to exercise and play. These are powerful actions that impact the health of an entire community.
There is research that supports this belief. Studies conducted in Honolulu, Boston, San Diego, Cincinnati and New Orleans found that children who had access to school recreational facilities outside of regular school hours were more likely to be active. In these communities, educators truly made a difference.
Tho opening school recreational facilities for public use has great potential to help residents of all ages be more active, many schools still don’t do it. School personnel often cite liability, staffing, maintenance, and cost issues as reasons for not allowing the community to use their facilities outside of normal school hours.
These are valid concerns but not without solutions.
There are many ways schools can protect themselves against liability and many opportunities to share costs for staffing or maintenance. Shared (or joint) use agreements, which are often struck between a school and a city or county can help protect schools and create cost-effective solutions for promoting activity.
A new brief from Active Living Research, Promoting Physical Activity through Shared Use of School and Community Recreational Resources, summarizes research on community access to school sport and recreation facilities outside of school hours. It also discusses studies that examine the shared use of school facilities and programs with other community groups or agencies. And provides information to help state and local decision makers and policy-makers address concerns they have about shared use.
Key findings and recommendations in the brief include the following:
1. Children who have access to existing and renovated school recreational facilities outside of regular school hours are more likely to be active.
2. Progress toward opening school facilities for recreational use outside of school hours is slow and some evidence suggests that lower-income communities are less likely than higher-income communities to offer shared use of school facilities.
3. Surveys of school administrators in lower-income communities or communities of color cite issues such as liability, staffing, maintenance and cost as barriers to opening schools for recreational use outside of school hours.
4. The Institute of Medicine recommends that local governments "collaborate with school districts and other organizations to establish joint use of facilities agreements allowing playing fields, playgrounds, and recreation centers to be used by community residents when schools are closed; and if necessary, adopt regulatory and legislative policies to address liability issues that might block implementation."
5. Schools, community groups and local governments can enter into joint use agreements to address the perceived barriers to sharing recreational facilities and programs.
I encourage you to share your experiences—success stories and challenges—related to opening school recreational facilities to the public, or sharing programs or facilities with community groups or agencies. We have a lot to learn from each other.
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