Ensuring children's safety in playgrounds.

Recently, many spontaneous playgrounds and children's play areas have sprung up in the province. These playgrounds have met the entertainment needs of children during summer holidays, weekends, and special occasions. However, ensuring the safety of children at many of these playgrounds has not received adequate attention, thus posing many potential safety risks.

Playing with sand and pebbles can cause harmful foreign objects to get stuck in the respiratory tract or be ejected into a child's ear while playing.

Walking around Viet Tri city, one can see many indoor children's play areas with popular games such as: swings, ball pits, inflatable houses, slides, sandpits, etc. The owners of these play areas maximize space to integrate as many games as possible, resulting in some areas being quite crowded and prone to collisions during play. Most play areas only have staff to check tickets and do not supervise or guide children to detect and prevent unsafe behavior by users of the toys, or, especially, to provide rescue in unexpected situations. Furthermore, many games are only suitable for teenagers and young adults, but many play areas do not have age restrictions, leading to numerous accidents and falls involving preschool children.

Three-wheeled electric drift cars are popular with children because they are easy to control and fast, but they also pose many potential dangers.

Playing with sand, pebbles, or white foam beads to simulate snow or mung bean seeds often attracts young children because they are easy to play and come with toys like excavators and trucks. Although these games are only suitable for children aged 3 and up, many parents still let their children under 3 play. Small pebbles, when children play with them and throw them without warnings or reminders from playground supervisors, can become harmful foreign objects if they get stuck in the respiratory tract or enter the ears; sand can also get into the eyes or respiratory tract.

At outdoor recreational areas, such as Hung Vuong Square in Viet Tri City, in the afternoon and evening, there are nearly 10 businesses offering various recreational services, including: renting mini motorbikes, electric cars, 3-wheeled electric drift cars, roller skates, self-balancing electric scooters... with many eye-catching shapes and colors. The rental price for each vehicle ranges from 30,000 to 50,000 VND depending on the type of vehicle for 30 minutes of play. Some of these electric vehicles are small, compact, easy to control, but quite fast. However, it's not just teenagers who use these services; even young children aged 3-8 are rented these vehicles by their parents without realizing the ever-present dangers.

Ms. Ho Quynh Mai, from Tien Cat ward, Viet Tri city, said: “During the summer break, my children often stay at home watching TV and using their phones, so I wanted to take them outside to play. I saw many games for children in the square, so I brought them here to play, but I saw the children driving electric cars at very high speeds. Some children crashed into each other, causing scratches on their legs and arms, which is very worrying.”

According to our investigation, most outdoor recreational businesses in Hung Vuong Square are unregulated and operate without proper management. While indoor playgrounds are licensed, the safety of the games within them is unknown. Furthermore, the origin and legality of the toys used are also not adequately monitored.

At the outdoor recreational areas in Hung Vuong Square, Viet Tri City, there are nearly 10 businesses offering various entertainment services, but there is no regulatory body overseeing them.

It is evident that the management of children's playgrounds in Viet Tri city currently faces many shortcomings. Given the risks to children's safety from the toys and playgrounds currently in use, city authorities need to strengthen inspections, especially of unregulated outdoor playgrounds, to promptly remove unsafe equipment and toys; and to inspect playgrounds with old, dilapidated, or unsafe toys to prevent unnecessary accidents for children.

Quoc An

Source: https://baophutho.vn/dam-bao-an-toan-cho-tre-o-cac-khu-vui-choi-215343.htm