Preschooler play equipment lacking

By Jim Dooley
Advertiser Staff Writer

The city of Honolulu has spent $7.7 million to install new playground equipment at 97 parks around O'ahu, but despite federal and state standards calling for separate equipment for very young children, only two of the playgrounds have such facilities.

Zacharias Canincia, 8, of Waipahu hangs out at the Honowai Neighborhood Park, one of the only city parks with separate equipment for preschoolers and older kids. Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser

But the city decided to install equipment designed for use by children 5 to 12 years old at 95 of 97 playgrounds on O'ahu because the equipment, while more expensive, is sturdier and easier to maintain and repair, said Shep Langsner, head of All Quality Builders, a Kane'ohe company that supplies all the new equipment to the city.

The equipment carries labels pointing out that it is designed for use by children in the 5-to-12 age range, and it is expected that adults will closely supervise children younger than 5 who use the equipment, Langsner said.

City spokeswoman Carol Costa cited Bill Balfour, head of the city Parks and Recreation Department, about the need for age-appropriate equipment.

"As a grandfather who has taken his 2-year-old to play on the city equipment, Mr. Balfour maintains that parents should always supervise their young children when they are on any city equipment in a park," Costa said.

Other playground improvements, including installation of softer, more resilient playing surfaces, have greatly improved the safety of the facilities, Costa and Langsner said.

It's not known if there have been any playground-equipment-related injuries reported to the city since the sites were upgraded. Costa did not respond to a request for such data.

Mayor Jeremy Harris launched the city's playground improvement program in 1999 after the state Department of Education dismantled school playground equipment statewide because of concerns about safety.

"Back in 1999 when the state was removing playground equipment from the schools, the city received lots of calls from parents," Costa said. "The mayor did not want a whole generation of children to grow up without having access to play equipment. He wanted the kids to have a place to play and get some exercise."

The city program began after a nonprofit organization called the National Program for Playground Safety, which rates playgrounds around the country, gave Hawai'i a grade of C- on a 1999 safety report card. The group is financed by a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and is run through the University of Northern Iowa.

Six safety categories were judged and the lowest grade among them, a D-, came in the "age appropriate design" section.

In the commentary section, the report card said Hawai'i "needs to improve its age-appropriate design by providing separate areas for children of ages 2-5 and 5-12."

According to information compiled by Costa and the Parks and Recreation Department, only one playground installed by the city since that report card was issued, at Honowai Neighborhood Park in Waipahu, includes a separate area where 2- to 5-year-olds can play on equipment specifically designed for their age group. The Honowai facility was designed and installed with the cooperation of neighborhood groups and other organizations, including the Hawai'i Medical Service Administration, and the Keiki Injury Prevention Coalition.

The city also is installing a separate "tiny tot play apparatus" area now at the Kalama Valley Community Park in East Honolulu, Costa said.

Langsner said manufacturers do not make recreational equipment specifically for the 2-5 year-old age group.

Instead, Langsner said, manufacturers "scale down" the 5-to-12 age group equipment and market it as equipment for the "2-12" age group.

"The pipes are a smaller diameter, smaller decks, thinner plastic, less fittings," Langsner said.

Equipment for the older age group is much sturdier, less prone to vandalism and damage, and more attractive even to the younger children, Langsner said.

Because the city has the same equipment at all parks, it's more easily maintained and gives the taxpayers "the biggest bang for the buck," Langsner said.

When government agencies "are pressured," Langsner said, "they will put in the 2-12 equipment but it gets destroyed."

He said he wasn't specifically familiar with the federal Consumer Products Safety Commission standards that recommend different playground equipment for different age groups of children.

"Preschool (ages 2 through 5 years) and school-age (5 through 12 years) children differ dramatically not only in physical size and ability but also in their cognitive and social skills," the CPSC Handbook for Playground Safety says.

"Therefore, age-appropriate playground designs should accommodate these differences with regard to the type, scale and the layout of the equipment," the CPSC handbook says.

Therese Argoud of the state Health Department is the O'ahu head of the Keiki Injury Prevention Coalition, a statewide group of more than 130 organizations and individuals who work to prevent injuries to children. She said she worked with the city on the Honowai playground project but now is "concerned about the age appropriate equipment issue" at city playgrounds.

"We've had discussions with them but it's gone no further than that," Argoud said.

Reach Jim Dooley at jdooley@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2447.