Opinion: New Finch Park playground lacks inclusiveness

The new playground at Finch Park is a welcome addition for many children and families in Davidson County.  However, there are families that do not share in the accolades the park has received.  For these families, they feel they were forgotten in the planning and execution of the new playground.          

The new playground boasts a wide array of climbing, sliding, and spinning apparatuses, but it completely missed the mark on inclusiveness.  There is only a single piece of handicapped accessible equipment, a lone merry-go-round.  It is unfortunate that families of children with physical limitations will need to look outside of their own county to find playgrounds with appropriate equipment.  

Disabled children should have been included in the planning and design plans for this new playground.  They deserve the opportunity to play with other children and interact with the features on the playground. It is abysmal that I would have to point this out to the people responsible for developing playgrounds for children.  One would think that in the twenty-first century they would already be conscious and aware of differences and make an effort to provide inclusiveness for all children in the county.

I believe that those responsible for planning this playground missed the mark and alienated an entire population of children and their families.  I am sure that we will hear, “You can’t please everybody.”  However, with the funds that were available for this park, I feel confident that a better job of inclusiveness could have been obtained. 

Jenny Ball