安全监管儿童的游乐场设计外文翻译文献

文献信息：

文献标题：Let the children play... and the supervisors have peace of mind - designing playgrounds to help those supervising children（让孩子们游玩和监管者安心——辅助监管儿童的游乐场设计）

国外作者：Hudson Susan，Thompson Donna，Olsen Heather

文献出处：《Parks & Recreation》,2003:88-93

字数统计：英文2053单词，10514字符；中文3160汉字

外文文献：

Let the children play... and the supervisors have peace of mind - designing playgrounds to help those supervising children Playgroundshavebeenanintegralpartofpublicparksandrecreationfromthestartofthe movementinthelate1800s.Infact,thefirstprofessionalorganizationofmunicipalrecreation professionalswascalledthePlaygroundAssociationofAmerica.Theimportanceoftheseear lyplaygroundsiswelldocumentedinthewritingsoftheearlyleadersofthefield,includingJos ephLee,HenryCurtisandLutherGulick.Anintegralpartoftheseplaygroundswasnotonlyth eequipment,butalsothesupervisionthatwasprovided.JosephLeenotedtheimportanceofsu pervisionwhenheobservethatBoston'splaygroundsweren'tusedtonearlytheirfullcapacity owingtoalackofsupervision.Withoutsupervision,itseemedtoLee,thebiggerboysbrokeup constructiveplay.

Overtheyears,publicplaygroundshavecontinuedtobeamainstayinparks.However,u nliketheearlyplaygrounds,themajorityofparkandrecreationagencieshaveforegonetheex penseofprovidingsupervisorsfortheseplayspaces.Instead,theyrelyonadultswhomayacco mpanychildrentotheseareastoprovidesupervision.Becausemostadultsareill-preparedtop rovidesupervision,it'snotsurprisingthatthelackofpropersupervisioniscitedasacontributin gfactorin40percentofallplaygroundinjuries.

Thelackofadequatesupervisiononplaygroundsputspublicparkandrecreationdepart

mentsinadilemma.Ontheonehand,thepublicpressuresagenciestoprovideplaygrounds;on theotherhand,providingtheseplayspaceswithoutadequatesupervisionplaceschildrenatris kandposesaliabilityexposuretopublicplaygroundownersinstateswheregovernmentimmu nityprovideslimitedornoprotection.Shortofprovidingstaffmemberstoprovidesupervisio ntothesesites,isthereanythingelsethatpublicparkandrecreationagenciescandotohelpthep ublicsupervisechildrenintheseplayspaces?

Yes.Onekeywaythatparkandrecreationagenciescanhelpthepublicinthesupervisionp rocessistoconsiderelementsofsupervisionintheplanninganddesignoftheseareas.Thisarti clewilldiscusssomeessentialpointsofdesignthathelpfacilitatesupervisionbycaregiversw hotakechildrentoplaygrounds.

Thedesignoftheplaygroundenvironmentcaneitherpromoteorhinderthesupervisionp rocess.Assuch,thereareatleastfourmajorelementstoconsiderinthedesignofanyplaygroun dtoaidadultsinsupervision.Theseelementsarelocationoftheplaygroundsite,zonesforplay, age-appropriatedesignofequipmentandopensightlines.Let'stakealookateach.

LocationofthePlaygroundSite

Asaresultofthelocationoftheplaygroundsite,therearemanypotentialhazardstochildr en.Forinstance,iftheplaygroundislocatedinanareawherearoadrunsadjacenttoit,there'sare alpossibilityofachildrunningintothestreet.We'reawareofaparkintheMidwestwherearoad separatedtheplaygroundfromthepublicrestroom.Asmostparentscanattest,thesecondmos t-visitedplaceinapark,asidefromaplayground,isprobablythepublicrestrooms.Thiskindof designisliterallyanaccidentwaitingtohappen.Inthesamelight,unfencedparkinglotsadjace nttoplaygroundsitesalsoposeaproblem,aschildrenaremoreintentonrunningtoandfromtot heplaygroundthanlookingoutformovingvehicles.

Athirdmovingobjectthatneedstobeconsideristhebicycle.Bicycletrailsarepopularent rancestomanypublicparks.Often,thesepathwaysleadrighttotheplayground.It'simportantt hatdesignerslayoutapathwaythatdoesn'tinterrupttheactivitiesthatareoccurringontheplay ground.Pathwaysthatallowcycliststoenterintotheplaygroundenvironmentsetupaconflict betweenamovingobjectandachild.Oneothernoteshouldbemadeaboutthebicycleandthepl ayground.Cyclistsneedtobewarnedtotaketheirhelmetsoffwhengettingonplaygroundequi

pment.Spacesontheequipmentaren'tdesignedforchildrenwithhelmets.Allowingchildren onplaygroundequipmentwithhelmetscanleadtoapotentiallylife-threateningheadentrapm ent.

Forestedareasandstreamsarealsoelementsintheplaygroundenvironmentthatcanpres entsupervisionhazards.Theseareasareattractivenuisancesforchildren.Ifacaregiverisn'tpa yingattention to children, the children can easily wander off and get into serious trouble. Having a definite boundary outlined by fences or shrubs helps delineate the playground area for both children and supervisors. Utility lines running through the playground area can also pose potential problems. We've seen playgrounds where, over time, the power lines have sagged to such an extent that they're within reach of a child standing on a slide. In addition, support structures for the utility lines may be enticing to children who view them as just another climbing opportunity.

A few years ago, parents of private school children found out one day that the business office had made a contractual arrangement with a cell phone company to erect a phone tower in the middle of an existing playground. The first that the principal or other school officials knew of this business arrangement was when the trucks showed up at recess to begin the work of erecting the tower. The parents ended up taking the school administration to court over the issue. The business officials saw no problems with the tower, especially if it brought extra money to the school. However, the judge granted the parents a permanent injunction citing that the best interest of the children was to have a safe environment minus the tower. When providing space for children, the guiding principle should be what's in the best interest of the child, not what's cheap, available or leftover.

Zones for Play

The type of play behavior children might engage in, given the space and equipment that is present, defines play zones. The play site should be divided into zones of different activity types with buffers to prevent user conflicts and accidents. For instance, an architectural firm on the West Coast that was developing a four-field baseball complex contacted the National Program for Playground Safety concerning the placement of playground equipment. The firm had decided to put the play ground

in the center field area of the complex. Their reasoning was that while adults were watching one child play ball, they could also see another child playing on the equipment. Never mind that the children on the playground might be hit by a fly ball, or that the center fielders might run into the playground area chasing a ball. In addition, while the adults might have been able to see the children on the playground, they wouldn't have been close enough to intervene promptly if a child was in trouble or exhibiting behavior that was disruptive to other children.

Within the playground area itself, moving equipment, such as swings and merry-go-rounds, should be located away from other structures. Children exiting equipment don't necessarily watch where they're going, and can easily move into the paths of other children. In the same light, routes between safety zones should be mapped out ahead of time to avoid children disrupting each other's play patterns. One design problem that we've seen many times, is placing swings in front of slides. Although the use zones may conform to the standards, one needs to remember that these use zones are the minimum for safety, not the maximum. For example, we were doing an assessment at a school where this swing-slide configuration was found on, the playground. We had measured the distance between the two structures and found that it met the Consumer Product Safety Commission guidelines. Then we watched as a 5th grader "bailed out" of a swing and landed two feet to the side of the slide chute. Luckily, no other child was present at the time. Had he landed straight across from the slide, he would have touched down on the exit of the chute.

Age Developmental Design

Playground equipment needs to be suitable for the developmental abilities of the users. The one-size-fits-all approach to playground equipment can contribute to serious injury on playgrounds. A preschool has a smaller foot and leg length than a school-age child. In addition, young children don't have the decision-making abilities to know that they're at risk when they get on equipment that's too large for their size and strength.

Despite this fact, the majority of park and recreation departments in the U.S. continue to design playgrounds for ages 2-12. This puts both the agency and children

at risk. For example, one of the authors was involved in a legal case in the Southwest where a mother put her 4-year-old on a track ride. The young girl lost her grip, fell to an inappropriate surface and broke her arm. The park and recreation agency claimed that the mother was at fault for putting her child on equipment that was too large for her. However, there were two problems with this line of defense.

First,althoughthereweretwocompositestructuresonthesite,areviewofthemasterplan srevealedthatbothstructuresweredesignedforages2-12.Thus,insteadofhavingonestructur eforages2-5andonestructureforages5-12,bothstructureshadequipmentthatwasappropria teforages2aswellasforages12.So,howwastheparenttoknowwhichpieceofequipmentonth ecompositestructurewasappropriateforherchild?Second,therewerenosignsatthesiteorla belsontheequipmentthatdesignatedtheageappropriatenessoftheequipment.Theonlysign presentontheplaygroundstatedthatchildrenundertheageof10shouldbesupervised,whichi swhatthemotherwasdoingatthetimeoftheincident.Theresultingsettlementinthiscasecostt heagencywellover$100,000.

Thepointisthat,byignoringtheCPSCguidelinesthatrecommendthatplaygroundequi pmentshouldbeseparatedforchildrenages2to5andages5to12andthatcarrytheweightof"pr ofessionaldutyofcare"inmostcivilcases,parkandrecreationagenciesareputtingchildrenat riskforinjuryandtheiragenciesatfinancialriskintermsofliability.

Intheabovecase,iftheplaygroundhadbeendesignedaccordingtotheCPSCguidelinesa ndtheAmericanSocietyforTestingandMaterialsstandards,andhadpropersignagetoinform themotheraboutwhichpiecesofequipmentwereappropriateforherchild,theparkandrecrea tionagency'sdefensewouldhavebeenvalid.

OpenSightLines

Supervisionmeansanactive,yetunobtrusive,monitoringoftheplayenvironment.Itals omeansthatthesupervisormovesthroughtheplayenvironmentandscansfrequentlyinordert ohelpensuresafetyandpromoteinjuryprevention.Manytimesparkandrecreationagenciesd efeattheconceptofactivesupervisionbyprovidingbenchesaroundtheplaygroundforadultst ositonwhilethechildrenplayonequipment.Ifparkandrecreationagenciesdoprovidebenche s,thentheplacementofthebenchesbecomescrucialforscanningtheplayground.Opensightli nesrefertotheexistenceofseveralanglesofvisualaccessforthesupervisor.Tofacilitatethis,t

helayoutofequipmentshouldbewithoutvisualbarriers.

Evenenclosedstructuresusedforquietplayshouldprovideforunobstructedvisibility.I naddition,it'simportantthatadultshavetheabilitytorespondtoemergenciesbybeingabletog ettotheinterioraswellastheexteriorofthestructurestoaidaninjuredchild.

Ifparkandrecreationprofessionalsbelievethatsupervisionisimportanttokeepchildren safeonplaygrounds,thenit'sprudentforparkandrecreationagenciestofacilitatethisprocesst hroughbetterdesignoftheirplaygroundstructures.Payingattentiontothefourelementsdisc ussedinthisarticleisastart.Thesecondpartoftheequationistoinformandeducatethepublica bouttheimportanceofsupervisionwhentakingchildrentopublicplaygrounds.Gooddesign ofplaygroundsisthe21stcenturyisthesubstituteforpaidplaygroundsupervisorsofthe20thc entury.Remember,however,thatequipmentwon'tsupervisechildren;onlypeopledo.Bythi nkingaboutsupervisionandincorporatingintothedesignoftheplayground,publicparksand recreationorganizationsareprovidingafoundationforthesafetyofchildrenandmakingasou ndinvestmentinthefinancialwell-beingoftheagency.

中文译文：

让孩子们游玩和监管者安心——辅助监管儿童的游乐场设计19世纪后期开始，游乐场已经是公共公园和娱乐的一个组成部分。事实上，第一个专业的市政休闲娱乐组织被称为美国游乐场协会。Joseph Lee，Henry Curtis和Luther Gulick.，这些在该领域的早期领导者对于早期游乐场设计的重要性是有据可查的。这些游乐场的组成部分不仅仅只是提供设备，而且还被用于监管儿童。Joseph Lee注意到监管的重要性是当他发现波士顿的游乐场由于缺乏监管而没有起到最大作用。在Lee看来，没有了监管孩子们就不能很好的玩耍。

多年来，公共游乐场一直是公园的中流砥柱。然而，不同于早期游乐场，现在多数公园和娱乐机构都为了游戏空间而轻视监管。相反，他们都依赖于家长们自己陪孩子到这些游乐场来提供监管。由于大多数家长们提供不了充分的监管，

所以这并不奇怪，缺乏适当的监管在游乐场受伤原因中占到40%。

由于游乐场缺乏足够的监管，使公园和娱乐机构处于两难的境地。一方面公众的压力促使政府提供游乐场地，另一方面，提供这些没有足够监管的游乐场会使儿童处于危险之中，并对提供游乐场所的政府部门构成了责任风险。除了雇佣临时工来监管这些游乐场，公共公园和娱乐部门还能再做些什么来帮助公众监管在这些游乐场里玩耍的孩子？

答案当然是肯定的。公园和娱乐机构可以帮助公众监管儿童的一个关键途径是考虑监管的规划和这些游乐场的设计因素。本文将讨论一些有助于促进带着孩子去游乐场的家长的监管的设计要点。

游乐场环境设计可以促进或阻碍监管。因此，任何帮助家长们提供监管的游乐场的设计都至少要考虑四大元素。这些元素分别是游乐场的位置，游乐区，与年龄相适应的设计和开放的视野位置。

游乐场的位置

对于儿童来说，游乐场的地点位置有许多潜在的危险。例如，游乐场坐落在与马路相邻的位置，那么儿童跑到马路上的可能性就很大。在中西部的一个公园，一条马路横穿在游乐场与公共厕所之间。大多数家长都知道，一个公园访问量第二大的地方除了游乐场可能就是公厕了。这种设计简直就是一个等待发生的事故！同样的，毗邻游乐场却没有围栏的停车场也是一个问题，因为孩子们的注意力都在游乐场和玩耍上而不会注意行驶的车辆。

第三个需要考虑的移动对象是自行车。许多公园都设有自行车道。通常情况下，这些车道要在公园里正确设置。对于设计师来说，制定出一个不会干扰游乐园里活动的自行车道是很重要的。这是解决让骑自行车的人进入游乐场而建立一个移动对象与儿童之间冲突的办法。自行车和游乐场之间另外需要注意应对的是，骑自行车的人在进入游乐场设施时需要戴上头盔。因为在游乐场里，儿童是不适合戴头盔的。让孩子戴头盔在游乐场里玩耍，孩子的头可能会被夹住从而会导致潜在的生命危险。

公园里的林区和溪流也是危害对儿童的监管的要素。这些区域很容易干扰到对儿童的监管。监护者稍不小心，孩子们就很容易的走丢，从而会使事态变得严

重。通过围栏或灌木勾勒出明确的界线，有助于为儿童和监护人划定游乐区。

通过游乐场的公用线路也可能会造成潜在的问题。可以看到，随着时间的推移，游乐场里的电力线路已经下垂到小孩站在滑板上就能摸到的程度。此外，孩子们还会把支撑公用线路的架子看成是一个攀爬的好机会。

几年前，一所民办学校的家长们发现有一天学校董事会与一家移动电话公司作出合约，要架设一个电话塔在学校操场中间。当架设电话塔的卡车开进操场时，学校的领导才知道有这事。最终家长们因为这事把学校告上了法庭。学校董事会辩解道，塔是没有问题的，甚至还会给学校带来额外的收益。但法官还是判了家长们胜诉，理由是一个安全的环境是孩子们最大的利益。当为儿童提供空间场地时，主导原则应该是儿童的最大利益。

游乐区

在提供的场地和设施里，孩子们能自由自在玩耍的地方叫做游乐区。游乐区应该分为不同活动类型区域，以防止孩子们发生冲突和意外。例如，西海岸的一家建筑设计公司通过《有关游乐场安全的全国方案》开发了一种名叫“four-field baseball”的儿童游乐设施。该公司把游乐场建在复杂的中心区域。他们的理由是，监护人不仅能够看到一个孩子在玩球，而且也能看到另一个孩子在游乐设施上玩耍。不用担心场地里的孩子还被飞球击中，也不用担心中场手会因为追逐一个球而冲进游乐区。此外，因为监护人可以看到游乐区里的孩子，所以他们就不用足够接近就能及时插手陷入麻烦或者是制造麻烦的孩子。

在游乐区里，移动的设施，如秋千和旋转木马，应该远离其他建筑物。孩子在离开游乐设施的时候并不一定会看他们要去哪里，并能很容易的走到其他孩子的路线上。同样的，安全区域之间的路要提前标记出来以避免干扰到其他儿童玩耍。

这个问题已经出现过很多次了，就是在滑梯前面放置秋千。即使使用区域可能符合标准，但那样的安全性也是最低的。例如对某学校操场上的秋千滑梯布局的评估。测得两个结构间的距离，并发现其满足《Consumer Product Safety Commission》的标准。但是，就在这个操场，一个五年级的小学生“飞出”秋千，两只脚落在了滑梯滑道的旁边。幸运的是，

当时没有其他孩子在场。如果他直接落在对面的滑梯上，他会摔在滑道的出口处。

与年龄相适应的设计

游乐场的设施要与儿童的年龄相适应。一个通用的游乐场设施会对儿童造成严重的人身伤害。学前班的孩子的腿脚长度要比上小学的孩子短。此外，当年幼的儿童在尺寸比他们大的多的游乐设施上玩耍时，根本不具备对危险的判断能力。

尽管如此，美国的大部分公园和娱乐部门还是继续在设计可供2-12岁儿童玩耍的游乐场。这使得部门与儿童都处于风险之中。例如，这里有一件关于在西南地区的一位母亲把她4岁的女儿放到赛道上开赛车的民事纠纷。这位小女孩因为车辆失控而被甩出车外摔断了胳膊。公园和娱乐部门声称，母亲应负主要责任，因为是她自己把她的孩子带到对孩子来说尺寸太大的游乐设施上。但是，在这件事上有两个问题。

首先，虽然场地上有两个综合游乐设施，但调查表明这两种设施都是为2-12岁儿童而不是分别为2-5岁和5-12岁年龄段儿童设计的。那么，家长怎么可能知道哪台设施是适合她的孩子的呢？第二，在游乐设施上没有标志或者说明这台设施是适合什么样的年龄段的，“十岁以下儿童应在父母指导下玩耍”这唯一出现的标志还是在这位母亲出事之后。最终，该游乐场花了超过10万美元的费用以解决这件纠纷。问题的关键在于，在很多民事案件中，公园和娱乐部门都无视CPSC关于2-5岁儿童和5-12岁儿童的游乐设施应该有区别的建议，并且也不重视“professional duty of care”条款。他们这是把孩子们至于危险之中，并且自己的机构也要承担经济赔偿的风险。

在上述情况下，如果游乐场依据美国消费品安全委员会的准则和美国测试和材料标准设计，并有适当的指示牌去告知母亲这件游乐设施适不适合她的孩子，那么公园和娱乐机构的辩护是有效的。

开放的视野

监管是指在一个不显眼的环境下照看儿童玩耍的行为。这也意味着，为了确保儿童的安全和避免受到伤害，监护者需要进入游乐区并频繁的查看。很多时候，

公园和娱乐部门认为在游乐区边上提供长椅以使家长们可以坐在那里看着孩子们在设施上玩耍就是主动监管的理念。如果公园和娱乐部门确实提供了长椅，那么长椅的放置就成为监管游乐区至关重要的环节。开放性视野依赖于监护者的视觉角度存在的。为了促进这项工作，游乐设施的布局应该是没有视觉障碍的。

用于安静玩耍的封闭式设施，应提供通畅的可见性。此外，监护者在遇到突发状况时能够自由进出游乐区是很重要的。

如果公园和娱乐部门的专业人士认为，对于保护游乐场儿童安全监管是非常重要的，那么公园和娱乐部门就会更好的设计自己的游乐场来促进监管。本文中讨论的四大要素只是个开始。第二部分的内容是当带孩子到游乐场时，应告知和教育公众有关监管的重要性。21世纪优秀的游乐场设计将会代替20世纪付费式游乐场监管。但是请记住，设施是不会监护孩子的，只有人才能做到。通过将监管融入到游乐场的设计里，公园和娱乐部门正在为孩子的安全奠定基础，这是他们明智的经济投资。