Promote Positive Playground Behavior
Promote Positive Playground Behavior
Define the Playground Supervisor’s Behavior Children are born to play. As discussed earlier, kids require time for healthy, active play opportunities in order to fully develop socially, emotionally, communicatively, physically, and cognitively. When children are deprived of play opportunities the consequences can result in serious developmental and physical health conditions such as obesity. Your behavior can directly impact the quantity and quality of children’s play experiences.
Communicate Playground supervisors should establish a means of communicating with one another and the main office from the playground. Many schools and agencies use radios or other mobile communication devices for this purpose. If one supervisor is assisting an injured child, he or she needs to alert the other supervisors and facilitators of the situation for them to communicate with the main office regarding the emergency situation. You will also need a means of communicating with the other supervisors if you need to leave your post for any reason. Know Your Emergency Response As part of playground supervisor preparation, discuss existing school or agency policies relating to injury prevention, emergency response, and incident reporting procedures. This is especially important in the case of lock down situations if children are on the playground when a situation occurred. All playground supervisors should be trained in first aid and equipped with proper first aid materials. Small first aid kits in backpacks or fanny packs could include protective gloves, protective mouth guards, gauze, bandages, etc. If any children have severe allergies to bee stings or other medical needs, subject to school or agency policy, it may be necessary for the supervisor to have the appropriate medicine as part of the kit. Emergency response plans should also be explored to like fire, severe weather, bomb threats, rabid or sick animals, strangers on the playground, and weapons on the playground. Emergency response plans may already be developed for inside the building, but handling emergencies outside the building is equally important. Be sure to Involve management in the process of developing playground emergency response plans. When developing emergency plans for different playground emergency scenarios, consider these things:
• Watch the children not directly involved in the emergency and protect them from harm. • Children are very familiar with fire drills and severe weather drills and learn at an early age the seriousness of the situation. By developing similar playground protocols, you can build on these familiar experiences. • Know how to respond to help keep everyone calm. • Evacuation plans should include a method of gathering the children together, directing them to a given location, and accounting for all of the children. • Practice drills on the playground to help ensure quick response in a real emergency. Finally, ensure that supervisors react to emergencies in a timely, responsible manner that aligns with school policy and procedures. Prompt, appropriate attention can often reduce the severity of an emergency. For example, in a medical emergency, who assists the injured, who maintains control of the playground, and who goes for help? Summoning assistance is a critical step, and putting a system in place to do so is important to ensure valuable time is not lost. While a playground supervisor should not leave the children unattended in case of an emergency, a variety of options are available to assist in establishing communication with the rest of the facility, and with authorities. • Two-way radios may be effective if the person(s) you need to reach are within a transmittable distance. • Portable cellular telephones may also be effective unless your facility is in an area of weak or nonexistent signals. • An emergency card system (using student or adult runners) can be used to communicate at a school facility, be sure it is safe for the runner to travel the route needed and ensure that their
Identify the Supervisor For safety reasons, children need a means of easily locating and communicating with a playground supervisor, but on a busy playground, it can be difficult for children to spot them and for supervisors to hear children calling their names. Consider a brightly colored uniform or vest that can be worn by the supervisors to enable easy recognition. A visual indicator can expedite contact and improve safety. Have a Positive Attitude Attitude is everything! What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think about play—a sense of freedom, laughter, running, jumping, swinging, and generally having fun outside? The playground supervisor’s attitude has a direct impact on the value of children’s play experiences. A great playground supervisor promotes healthy active play and is
familiar with the needs of children. First and foremost, take the job seriously, be prepared, patient, and have a positive attitude. Define Your Location It is important to define the location of each playground supervisor and where they will move while watching the children. In Group Activity #1 you explored sight lines and the number of supervisors on the playground. Each supervisor should know what area of the playground he or she is responsible for supervising before the children come out to play. The supervisor should be familiar with the area and equipment, understanding where he or she needs to physically roam while scanning the play environment with his or her eyes, closely monitoring challenging equipment and areas out of immediate sight like inside crawl tubes.
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Preserving the Play Environment • Promoting the Value of Play • Protecting Children
Preserving the Play Environment • Promoting the Value of Play • Protecting Children
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