Yet another Stupid Ban

After reading the post above, maybe we should ban sleds all over the country, because people get hurt. While we're at it, we better ban skis, because people get hurt there too. Maybe we ought to ban horses, people get hurt on them as well. Maybe we ought to ban sports, people get hurt. Maybe we ought to ban cars, pickups, buses, airplanes, etc. because people get hurt in them too. Dan*, accidents happen...so do we sit home on our couches and vegetate? And I feel sorry for the ones that do get hurt, but do the rest of us quit living? The trespassing signs and police patrols won't do a thing to stop the sledding. Kids/adults will be kids/adults. I think they invented plastic webbing/fencing for this purpose. You can find the fencing all over ski resorts. Hay bails are a little hard when you run in to them, but they'll work, if you can't afford the fencing. And yes, we had a favorite hill to sled on in South Dakota. The hill ran straight in to the school house (high school) front door. And we used the front door to stop ourselves. The school officials tried to stop us because we were taking huge chunks of wood out of the front doors when we hit, but there were literally hundreds of us, so they put up webbing (and that was in the 50's and early 60's). It worked cool...

A teacher over here got sacked because he didn't do his Health & Safety assessment properly whilst demonstrating a rather impressive sled that "wasn't bought in ASDA." It even had harnesses, would you believe. The teenagers involved "demonstrating" the sled weren't harmed in any way but the teacher got sacked anyway. Life is all about risk, in my opinion. We can get run over by a bus or car whenever we cross the road, but we still do it, don't we?

We keep hearing about inactive we are and how we as a nation obesity is at 33% for our kids. They have taken recess out of many schools and have P.E. about 3 months a year. They have removed play ground equipment and such things as dodge ball, baseball, from school yards. When I was a kid we learned to not get hurt. A kid can walk out the door and get hurt. Kids are going to be kids and do what they want to a certain extent. Parents need to teach their kids how to be safe. They wrote that the police will be patrolling the area. So the kids will put out look outs and sled any way.

I wouldn't sue and it probably isn't the kids suing. I'm guessing that it is probably the parents of these kids? If I were a driver in that parking lot then I have to say that I would be complaining. I would not want to feel bad for the rest of my life if I hit one of those kids or one got seriously hurt hitting my car. Maybe these kids could put their heads together and do something to make the hill a safer place and get the ban lifted. As a parent, I wouldn't want my child sliding down a fast steep slope into a parking lot. Just doesn't sound like a good plan to me.

As a boy I regularly participated in all sorts of activities that today are either frowned upon or banned. Some of them, like using a grain screw as a slide to whoosh into a pit of oats or barley do take even my breath away. Or the "snowball" fights we had using Warfarin on my friend's farm. Or skating on thin ice. I played conkers too. I have no doubt that some people were injured at the time. But if we wrap our children in cotton wool how can we expect them ever to grow and explore. I have known adults break their legs skiing, but it is not banned. I forget who now, but I think that a chess player once broke his leg by wrapping it around the table and then not moving it fast enough when he stood up. A freak accident maybe, but an accident just the same. Put a barrier between the slope and the car park, but hive people some credence for common sense. We cannot and must not legislate away everything. What next - cement our cars to the road in case we feel the urge to drive them!!?

I wish they would just outlaw stupid lawsuits like that.. OMG! That's what's wrong with the world today. Too many lawsuits has made things unaffordable and unattainable.. now we can't even go sledding? Crazy! It's common knowledge that sledding on a hill that ends in a parking lot could cause harm or injury.. so who in their right mind would sue when they get hurt? Personally I would not choose to allow my kids to sled on such a hill, we prefer smaller, safer ones. However, when my kids do get hurt sledding.. which does happen regardless of the hill, I know it's nobody's fault and I don't plan on sueing the village that owns the hill!

That is totally Nuts!!! I remember sledding down the hill at my old school. It was great, and pulling it back up the hill was great exercise. We had an awesome old toboggan, so much more fun than those new sleds they have out.

ah.that's not too far from me.i'm not surprised. you gotta understand the area.if it might be fun,they take it away. all it takes is one person mentioning possible lawsuits and they shut it down. then they wonder why the kids are getting in trouble.they have nothing to do! there's an area in providence that's 100% more dangerous to sled on, the end of the street is a main artery,a wrought iron spiked fence,and a 20 ft drop if you don't stop in time.but i've seen the college kids go down it at close to 40 miles an hour.now,THAT'S dangerous!

Safety comes first, specially when dealing with children. Schools can't take chances when safety is at stake. if a child gets injured then parents will sue the school. instead of the blanket ban they could device some safety measure like putting up a fencing with cushion next to the parking lot so that children are not injured.

I don't think that they are making these rules to be mean, I think that they are making them to keep our children safe. I see nothing wrong with keeping the sledding to a park or area where the space is prepared for it. A school is a whole other matter, the school isn't just thinking about safety in the school, they are thinking about it outside too and I think it's smart. Let me ask you this: Say your child is in the school grounds sledding, and the sled goes a little too fast and too far, the sled ends up on the road. Now there are two things that could happen, one: the child could hit a parked car, resulting in damage to another persons car, and or a broken bone or two for that child. Worse case #2: The child gets hit by a car passing that didn't even see him or her coming. If that was your child what would you do? Do you think that you would still be thinking about how stupid the no sledding rule is, or do you think that you would be asking why a rule hadn't be enforced to keep something like that for happening? I personally think that you are looking at this the wrong way, might be time for a change of view. I would also like to say that if MY child got hurt on school property like this.....I WOULD SUE!

I guess they are only thinking of the safety of everyone involved. they are not thinking of the enjoyment this activity could be bringing to so many, I agree that other measures could be taken so this sledding activity could stay as it is.