Loukaitou-Sideris, A., & Sideris, A. (2010). What Brings Children to the Park? Analysis and Measurement of the Variables Affecting Children’s Use of Parks. Journal of the American Planning Association, 76(1), 89-107.
What Brings Children to the Park?
(Analysis and Measurement of the Variables Affecting Children’s Use of Parks)
Abstract: Children are making little use of their neighborhood parks even though they have proper facilities for active recreation. This research’s goal is to examine factors that bring children to parks and further researching patterns between girls and boys, different races and ethnicities, and between inner city and suburban children.
The authors used the method of surveying children and their parents in 12 different middle schools. The team assembled by the authors also observed children and 50 inner-city and 50 suburban parks and used multiple regression models containing park and neighborhood level variables to relate them to the number of children using parks.
The studies the authors include in their literature review investigate the potential reasons of why children don’t visit their local parks before they exhibit and studied children first hand. Empirical studies have found that park size; availability of active recreation in facilities, maintenance levels, aesthetic features, and the perceived safety may alter one’s thoughts when it comes to using their local park. Most of the park studies that occurred in the past seem to think that park safety is the main reason that children are not making proper use of their local parks because their parents are afraid of their safety.
So what did the surveys, complied of both closed and open-ended questions and given to families from all walks of life, really show? The survey was broken down into a variety of categories, mostly depending on race and economic status. Hispanic families stated that they go to their local park as a family at least twice a week. Other minority groups reported that they don’t go to their local park at all. Results also showed that cleanliness, perceived safety, and superiority of facilities were the reasons children gave when they decided on one park over another. The reasons children gave for never going to parks included their parents lack of time to take them, they’ve outgrown them, and they preferred other activities such as visiting friends or going to the mall above going to the park. When it came to what children do at parks when they visit, children reported they preferred using the fields to play baseball or soccer. If they do visit parks, it’s mostly not for their own recreational purposes but instead of organized recreational purposes like league games or other activities with friends.
In conclusion, neighborhood parks provide the potential for active recreation but are not often used by children and only attract certain children at that. Planners should take into account that different factors attract different groups of children to parks. Depending on where planners want to develop a park, they should plan accordingly.
The article went into a great amount of detail where it divided up information based on families’ ethnic backgrounds and explained what they enjoying do/what attracts them to their local park and recreational spaces. Overall, I found the article to be quite informational and pretty up to date with childrens’ uses of parks today. I’ve witnessed it first hand in my own neighborhood in small Blacklick, Ohio. When I drive by our little park, only very young children and their parents are there. Most children in my neighborhood play basketball in their driveway or ride their bikes in the streets because the park really isn’t that large and not age appropriate for most of the children in my neighborhood. I feel as if children are at least getting some form of physical activity in at least weekly, even if it’s not at their local park, we shouldn’t worry so much about their lack of use of parks. Some recreational activity is better than none.
Children's Park in St. Louis Missouri
