Adventure Playgrounds and the Increased Levels of Interaction with Youth - Case Study Example

?Table of Contents Introduction 2 Data Collection 3 Organizational Values and Aims 4 Projects and Activities 5 Analysis of the organization’s policies in relation to the UNCR 6 Opportunities, Challenges, and Barriers to Implementation of Aims 7 Opportunities 9 Conclusion 10 Introduction: Since the dawn of modern society, governments have sought to integrate with the needs of their citizens. The past several hundred years has seen a radical departure from the virtual free-for-all that defined the struggle for human existence previously. As a result of this modernizing influence, governments have begun to provide grants and direct services/subsidies to a number of different organizations and groups that seek to further the education, development, health, and other needs of these societal stakeholders. Within such a context, the following report will be concentric upon the existence and operation, as well as funding, of what are known as “Adventure Playgrounds” in and around the London area; specifically focusing upon the Waterford Adventure Playground. Although these “Adventure Playgrounds” are but parts of a broad network of youth integration programs that are currently exhibited within the extant environment, this particular analysis will focus upon the means by which these operate and whether or not they are ultimately able to provide the needs that they seek to fulfill within their respective communities. In order to accomplish such a task, this particular researcher set about interviewing the directors of three of these “Adventure Playgrounds”; seeking to draw a level of inference with regards to the scope and vision that these respective stakeholders felt within the community as well as how the milestones and metrics of the project were being carried out. Moreover, consent was also given by the director of the Waterford Adventure Playground to engage a small subset of parents who regularly availed themselves of the opportunity that the “Adventure Playground “made available to them. In such a way, the following analysis will denote some of the main methods of data collection, a description of the organizations values and aims, a further analysis of the organizations projects and activities (both current, past, and future), and an analysis of the organizations policies in relation to UNCRC. Likewise, with respect to the opportunities, challenges and barriers to implementation of the institutional aims and policies discussed above, the analysis will also consider several key themes that help to leverage the information that has thus far been discussed and collected. Finally a conclusion will summarize the main points of this report and help to solidify a baseline of understanding with respect to the ultimate research question at hand. Data Collection With regards to the data collection that was utilized as a means of drawing inference to the particular topic at hand, this particular researcher sought to gain a level of insight with regards to the activities and organization of this particular entity via a thorough review of the organization’s website, leaflets, policies, and other printed materials available both online and within the local library. However, the sociological impact of this program cannot be inferred by merely an analysis of these rather one dimensional metrics alone. Rather, it was necessary to engage the individual director of the Waterford Adventure Playground as a means of further determining not only the organizations values and aims, projects and activities, and analysis of policies in relation to the UNCRC, but the overall level of vision and success that such a project engendered. Naturally, a firm determination of structure and organization for these adventure playgrounds can be inferred via an analysis of extent literature and pertinent research upon the topic. However, in seeking to define and understand the impact that these have had upon the community, very little research was available and required this particular researcher to engage not only the director of Waterford Adventure Playground, but also a test group of 20 parents who utilize the service. In such a way, rather than merely analyzing the subject matter from the perspective of those individuals propagating the service to the community, or merely analyzing the situation from the perspective of community’s shareholders who are utilizing the service, the analysis that was engaged sought to leverage something of a dual approach to the issue. Organization values and aims From an analysis of the organizations values and aims, both with regards to the interview that was conducted as well as with regards to the printed literature available, both in hardcopy and electronic format online, it can be inferred that the organization’s greatest values and aims are concentric upon providing children within the regional community a wholesome outlet and territory that the playground occupies. In such a manner, it can be inferred that the ultimate aim that such institutions seeks to provide to the community is twofold. Firstly, it serves as a valuable educational and physical development facet within a society that is becoming increasingly overweight and experiencing at higher and higher percentage of health problems in association with this increased level of obesity. Naturally, this approach is the physical development of the child and is not necessarily depended upon or seeking to maximize the education and/or mental development that he/she might be able to experience. The second aim that is necessarily employed, as per the stated organizational aims as well as he interview which was engaged, has to do with providing the children within the community a safe and nurturing environment that they can play and develop without the fear of street crime or harmful influences of other varieties impacting upon the early adolescent childhood experiences that these stakeholders might otherwise enjoy. Projects and Activities Although the activities and projects that the “Adventure Playground” engages in are necessarily limited, these cannot be brushed aside. Ultimately, as the director of the “Adventure Playground” in question noted, these facilities exist in similar format throughout the city and are often times not utilized by the very individuals to which they were designated to engage. Within such a framework, one of the most common projects and activities that such an organization engages in is seeking to provide an increased level of awareness and outreach within the general community. Although funds are limited, pamphlets and word-of-mouth programs are engaged as a means of raising awareness and increasing the marketing footprint that such an organization has within the local community. Moreover, particular schemes are engaged at different times of the year as a means of seeking to encourage further participation with the facility and the level of educational and physical development that it purports to offer. Analysis of the organization’s policies in relation to the UNCRC It might seem convenient to assume that the UN CRC does not apply to developed nations around the globe. However, the development of future society is entirely incumbent upon the rate and extent to which childhood is able to be experienced by current stakeholders within society. Within such an understanding, the reader would do well to consider the fact that the UNCRC specifically outlaws the forced labor, or coercion of any child to participate in the workforce, places further restrictions on the core mechanisms that help the international child sex trade to continue to exist, and seeks to promote a degree of healthy development for all children within international society. Though it is true that the adventure playground is ultimately tangentially related to the UNCRC, it is a means by which this organization is able to foster a healthful level of childhood development by seeking to ensure that these children do not grow up completely without the formative and normative experience of play within their daily lives. Without such an influence in the community, it could be distinctly understood that these societal stakeholders (children) would be much more susceptible to the influence of factors within society that could seek to reduce their level of development and strip them of many of their inherent rights; as denoted by the UNCRC. Challenges and Barriers to Implementation of the Institutional Aims and Policies One of the first barriers that must be noted is with regards to the fact that some of the most at risk children within the environment will have the least level of access to the adventure playground in question. This was further underscored by the interview conducted with the director of this particular adventure playground. What the director noted was that even though it is possible for an outreach program to exist and seek to integrate the needs of the broader community with respect to the service that is being offered, many times cultural and/or linguistic differences create a situation by which some of the key needs of the most at risk individuals are not able to be met. Another challenge that exists within the program is the fact that funding streams are never far from running out to support the many functions that are engaged at the adventure playgrounds around the city. Further, new levels of standardization and the means by which educators specialize in different aspects of childhood development creates a situation in which it is difficult to maintain a full staff to oversee and direct the program as it currently exists. One particular challenge that the director referred to again and again throughout the interview which was conducted was the fact that parental engagement fundamentally alters the structure and means by which the organization integrates with each particular community. Due to the fact that adventure playgrounds exist elsewhere throughout the city, the director was able to specify that no single adventure playground integrated with its representative community by exactly the same means. Rather, one of the barriers and potential means for development, as the director called, was the fact that stakeholders within the individual playgrounds and learning centers must be mindful of the fact that unique needs are exhibited throughout the extent environment. However, apart from the interview that was conducted with this particular director, the interviews which were conducted with some of the parental stakeholders in the regional environment indicated the fact that they did not hold any particular strong opinion with regards to whether they insisted on taking their child to the Waterford Adventure Playground or any other playground within the vicinity. Although this may not seem as an earth shattering tidbit of information, 80% of the respondents noted that it did not matter where their child played as long as access to a playground was a possibility. Such a level of information is important due to the fact that it calls into question to degree and extent to which the local offerings of adventure playgrounds are able to set them apart from other playgrounds within the immediate area (Stewart, 2013). From a polling of the stakeholders of the organization, the degree and extent to which these individuals prized Adventure Playground was far from evident. Opportunities In addition to the salient data was collected, it can be noted that a potential opportunity that Waterford Adventure Playground might have to offer is with regards to seeking to fix the needs of the community stakeholder to a more efficient and obvious degree. Whereas it is true that many of the drawbacks and barriers that have been discussed in the previous section are primarily the result of lack of knowledge concerning adventure playground and the many programs that it offers, they are oftentimes also the result of the drawback of a lack of funding that is provided to this particular organization. Moreover, engaging with other educational facilities and stakeholders, within both the public and the private sectors is yet another way in which adventure playgrounds can seek to leverage a degree of local support that they might not otherwise achieved. Whereas it is true that many entities struggle with financial burdens and seek to integrate with the communities that they serve, the financial considerations that were stressed so severely by the director of Waterford adventure playground did not seem out of the ordinary or beyond the pale of reason. What is meant by this is the fact that seeking to engage stakeholders within the local community, appears to hold a far greater level of promise than does merely continually seeking to provide further funding to a program that is currently unable to provide a direct level of service to the community at hand. This should not be understood to mean that adventure playgrounds, whether the Waterford location, or any other, is ultimately useless. Rather, it fulfills a profoundly important role and seeks to ameliorate many of the issues associated with an increasingly sedentary populace seeking to maximize childhood activity and development within an increasingly can’t find it geographic space. Conclusion From the data that was analyzed, as well as the inference which has been drawn concerning stakeholder input, as well as organizational management and oversight, it can be definitively argued that although adventure playground allows for a distinctive void to be filled within society, a great deal of additional potential and awareness can exist within the community as a means of realizing this for potential. However, before seeking to criticize adventure playground for not maximizing the needs of the regional society to the correct degree, it must be understood and appreciated that effecting long-lasting and definitive changes upon the attitudes and behaviors of childhood development is ultimately not something that an organization can be fully responsible for. Although this analysis has been mainly concentric upon analyzing adventure playground from the perspective of its operational standpoint and key goals and objectives, a level of societal analysis necessarily should be performed before the overall effectiveness of adventure playground can be determined. Moreover, due to the fact that individual changes and nuances in societal behavior constrains and defines the means by which adventure playground integrate through different communities throughout the city, the analysis that is thus far been performed, although useful, is mainly specific to a particular geographic location and it particular cultural norm. Familiarity with such norms and the means by which dynamics even within the city can constrain skew the results of the particular analysis helps this researcher to understand the fact that these statistics and data that has thus far been presented should be considered within the light of this realization. In conclusion it must be noted that organizations, such as the one that has been analyzed with this brief research, ultimately exist to serve the needs of society; not vice versa. Although it may be noted by the researcher that society is incapable of integrating with many of the benefits that such a service and/or organization might offer, this inability to integrate in and of itself should not be termed as ultimate failure for the organization. Rather, the baseline metric which was discussed and analyzed previously within the research, the degree and extent to which the adventure playground ascribes to the UN CRC, has been met and surpassed. In light of this understanding, the reader can and should come to the interpretation that the organization has representing the best needs of the community; regardless of whether or not the community is able to integrate these offerings to the degree that could potentially be the most helpful. Reference Stewart, A 2013, ‘Adventure Playground’, Early Development, 21, 3, pp. 24-27, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 31, July 2013. Read More