I remember when playgrounds made me cringe. I hated going to recess in elementary school because there were so many more interesting things to do inside. (Books galore, paper, paint, markers, crayons, pencils, games were easily found, computers, and my trusty math book.) We didn't have a see-saw, but we did have swings. We even had monkey bars, although by fifth grade we weren't allowed to use them (or the tall slide either). We had a slightly wooden area that was delightful for the young child to go play in. It was fenced off with the rest of the playground and so theoretically safe from intruders, but by later in my elementary school career we weren't allowed even near it. Which meant they were even a little grouchy about us using the swings which were very near to the edge of the wooded area. And we weren't allowed to play in the grass field, just the graveled one, which essentially meant that the boys all got to play kickball while the rest of us were left trying to figure out what was left to do (no swings... no dirt to play with... no jump-ropes since they could be used as a weapon...) without getting into any trouble. I can't imagine what that playground is like now well over a decade later. I'm not even confident that they have recess anymore...

The Politics of Play