I've been thinking about the jungle gym lately. Not the bright, plastic, insurance-approved ones they erect over plots of recycled tires in modern playgrounds and backyards, but the old-school metal pipe sets that seemed to sprout from schoolyard asphalt in the 1950's and 60's. If you were born after 1990, you may never have seen one IRL. If you don't know what IRL stand for, you've probably played on more than one.
For the younger crowd I will concede that they were death traps. Literally. I couldn't find statistics, but since today's "safe" playgrounds manage to kill about 150 kids a year in the U.S., I'm guessing old fashioned jungle gyms took a life every day, on average, and injured hundreds of thousands. I, myself, suffered several injuries on jungle gyms that would probably result in an E.R. visit today.
Everyone knew it, too. That was half the appeal. Climbing up those bars took real bravery. I remember the first time I made it all the way to the top. I was maybe six feet of the ground, but it felt like the top of the empire state building.
To our imaginations, it could have been. The jungle gym was a perfect blank slate. One day it was a castle, the next a mountain. It was the robbers hide out for cops and robbers and the wild west fort defended by cowboys. It was a rocket ship and a time machine.
It was also a teacher. We learned to check the bar before grabbing hold with gusto. Gusto could burn or freeze or slip, depending on the weather. We got ourselves in tight spaces that stretched our problem solving skills. We fell and it hurt. The vast majority of us walked away with a better grasp of gravity, balance and resilience.
We made friends on those hot, slippery bars. The jungle gym was not a fortress of solitude, but a place where secrets were shared and stories were told. Daring adventures were played out.
I worry that today's youth wouldn't know what to do with our old jungle gyms. Modern kids expect a lot more structure. Modern playground structures leave a lot less to the imagination. Modern parents expect everything to be really safe.
The jungle gyms of my childhood were none of those things. And I am much better for it.
