>> I love the idea that beaches and playgrounds have blocks and toys to borrow. <<
It makes them much more fun and useful.
>> One thing that makes me sad about L-Australia playgrounds is that everything has to be bolted down and made impervious to local teenagers who just want to wreck shit because it's fun :/ <<
Thoughts on this ...
* Consider things which are very cheap or free. Rocks and sticks are free. Tree cookies (slices of log) are cheap or free, and easily homemade by anyone with a saw and a sander. Sidewalk chalk is cheap and washes right off. It doesn't matter if people snitch some of this stuff, as it is easily replaced.
* When young people become destructive, it is usually because they feel disconnected from society and/or people have hurt them so much that they're lashing out. Boredom is another reason, if they're not allowed to do anything they find worthwhile. This can be addressed by teaching EFA, upstanding, emotional regulation, and conflict resolution skills. Offer them constructive and meaningful things to do in order to get them engaged with society. People don't wreck things that they feel belong to them, they wreck thing that they feel belong to someone or symbolize something they dislike. Get them invested and the vandalism will go down.
* Instead of treating vandalism as a crime, treat it as childish misbehavior. Those who are caught should be made to clean up the mess, and then spend a portion of their free time taking care of places like they wrecked. Any parent can tell you that kids who have to clean up after themselves are much less messy in the first place.
* Vandalism is a symptom of poor community life. To avoid it, promote community ties and encourage people to get out more. When people are watching, crime rates drop dramatically. It's not police who make a neighborhood safe, but "eyes on the street." Busy parks have low rates of vandalism. A park nanny to keep an eye on the kids is also helpful.
If your neighborhood parks make you sad, think about what you could do to fix that using whatever resources you have locally. Chances are, they make other people sad too, and you could work together on improving them. These are problems that many people have had, and some have solved!
>> Something I keep forgetting to ask - what's the meaning of the word "Terramagne"? Google is reasonably unhelpful if I google "magne" so I thought asking the authority was appropriate here :) <<
Yay!
You're welcome!
>> I love the idea that beaches and playgrounds have blocks and toys to borrow. <<
It makes them much more fun and useful.
>> One thing that makes me sad about L-Australia playgrounds is that everything has to be bolted down and made impervious to local teenagers who just want to wreck shit because it's fun :/ <<
Thoughts on this ...
* Consider things which are very cheap or free. Rocks and sticks are free. Tree cookies (slices of log) are cheap or free, and easily homemade by anyone with a saw and a sander. Sidewalk chalk is cheap and washes right off. It doesn't matter if people snitch some of this stuff, as it is easily replaced.
* When young people become destructive, it is usually because they feel disconnected from society and/or people have hurt them so much that they're lashing out. Boredom is another reason, if they're not allowed to do anything they find worthwhile. This can be addressed by teaching EFA, upstanding, emotional regulation, and conflict resolution skills. Offer them constructive and meaningful things to do in order to get them engaged with society. People don't wreck things that they feel belong to them, they wreck thing that they feel belong to someone or symbolize something they dislike. Get them invested and the vandalism will go down.
* Instead of treating vandalism as a crime, treat it as childish misbehavior. Those who are caught should be made to clean up the mess, and then spend a portion of their free time taking care of places like they wrecked. Any parent can tell you that kids who have to clean up after themselves are much less messy in the first place.
* Vandalism is a symptom of poor community life. To avoid it, promote community ties and encourage people to get out more. When people are watching, crime rates drop dramatically. It's not police who make a neighborhood safe, but "eyes on the street." Busy parks have low rates of vandalism. A park nanny to keep an eye on the kids is also helpful.
If your neighborhood parks make you sad, think about what you could do to fix that using whatever resources you have locally. Chances are, they make other people sad too, and you could work together on improving them. These are problems that many people have had, and some have solved!
>> Something I keep forgetting to ask - what's the meaning of the word "Terramagne"? Google is reasonably unhelpful if I google "magne" so I thought asking the authority was appropriate here :) <<
Terra = world, Earth
Magne = great
Loosely translated, it means "world of greatness."