Prevalence of Playground Injuries Among School Children in Benin City

Play is essential for the proper development of a child's cognitive functions, social abilities, emotional functioning, and physical development of a child. The place where play is mostly carried out occupies the dual site of growth on one hand and a place of injury. Therefore, this study examined the prevalence of playground injuries among school children in Benin City, Nigeria. The study was guided by four research questions. A descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. A sample of 40 public and private primary schools was used. Data were collected through a self-structured questionnaire validated by three lecturers in the Institute of Education, University of Benin, Benin City. The reliability of the instrument was established through Cronbach alpha. From the results, it is very clear that the occurrence of playground injuries in Benin City were low. The injuries commonly reported are bruises, cuts, and fractures; while the five most common causes of the injury were fall from equipment, slip/trip, collision with other pupils, misuse of equipment and unsafe behavior. Children aged 3-6 years are particularly victims, with boys ranked more prone to injuries than girls. It was therefore recommended amongst others that schools managers/administrators and teachers should ensure adequate supervision of pupils and when using play equipment. In addition the standardized safety regulations in terms of playground equipment must be instituted to ensure that the equipment meet the criteria of safety benchmarks.