[seabea]

Yeah, as a parent of a young child, all those things are still extremely common (at least at all the playgrounds I've see constructed in the past 5 years). Many even have 10ft+ rope structures and 15ft tall slides.

Sure there are more "thought games" and the merry-go-rounds won't pin and drag a child across the ground.

I mostly take my child to metroparks in my area. I wouldn't be surprised if school playgrounds have been made safer due to less individual supervision and liability for the school.

[xattt]

I’ve gone to a recently constructed playground with my child over the last few years, and I was able to observe the risk assessment strategies they took as they developed.

The playground in question has a truss ladder leading up to a playground platform that’s about two storeys off the ground. Dangerous stuff for a toddler just getting the hang of the playground, and they would self-select themselves out of it. However, as they grew, so did their abilities and they climbed higher and higher.

Yes, overly risk-managed playgrounds were a thing late 90s and 2000s, but risky play structures are making a comeback.