From Whitter Daily News
By Tracy Garcia, Staff Writer
Posted: 10/25/2009

"It's something I read about on the Internet and it grabbed my eye," said Principal Marla Duncan, who said the 575-student campus had been fundraising for years to get new playground equipment.

"But we raised money not knowing how expensive (the equipment) is, along with the installation," she said.

"And since we couldn't afford to put more equi…

A parent at a Bakersfield City School is asking the city school district to pay $19,000 after his daughter fell off the monkey bars and broke her wrist. This is not the first parent to file this kind of claim. Past Bakersfield City School Board meeting agendas show other parents have filed similar claims.

While it's not uncommon to fall off the monkey bars, the parent contends that the school district is responsible for his daughter's bro…

Did you receive the November Play Nice Newsletter?

This month's newsletter provides information regarding an article on "Can Physical Education Make You Smarter", A Recess Controversy, H1N1, a recent legal ruling regarding Recess and Peaceful Playgrounds New Online Playground Supervisor Training.

Stop Bullying Now has a new website with additional resources.

You may be interested in their chart which gives you current laws and legislation in regards to bullying.

You may also be interested in their new page on major research and studies on bullying.

Other articles on bullying:

Bullying Prevention: Life's lessons in good and evil.

Why Bullying Programs Succeed or Fail.

Peaceful Playgrounds

Marana Elementary School implemented Peaceful Playgrounds last week. "Teachers and monitors immediately saw the whole tenor of the playground change from one of chaos to calm, with almost a total student involvement in the games," according to the story on the front page of the Marana News.

"The purpose is to get the kids out to play and have fun while learning rules like playing fair, and you can't say y…

Playgrounds are the perfect laboratory for life lessons. As educators, we are called to insert “life lessons” into schooling. It struck me that we have an opportunity each day to teach the lesson of good action vs. evil action in school bullying situations. Bullying in schools is one of the most prevalent problems facing schools today. Yet bullying intervention programs have largely failed and it is fair to say, miserably.

Yet the opportunity to…

When a Philadelphia 4 year old feel off a cork screw while playing on an elementary school playground structure the case rested on three legal issues. 1. The depth of the surfacing, 2. in adequate supervision, and 3. age appropriate equipment. It was alledged that all three conditions contributed to the injury ( fracture of the child's left arm) according to attorney's involved in the case.

It seems the depth of the surfacing did not…

As we enter the summer season the heat presents a particular challenge for summer school and year round school locations. Principals and physical educators will face daily decisions regarding children’s heat health on the playground.

It should be noted that kids absorb more heat than adults while sweating less. The
result is a greater propensity for heat cramps, exhaustion or heat stroke.
So how hot is too hot for physical activity? The determin…