Trampoline: Good gift idea or liability waiting to happen?

I think we have taken the message board subject of homeowners insurance agents and trampolines to the absolute limit.

 

If you have a neighbor with one, why get your own?
Send your kids over there to jump on the trampoline.

 

We've got the Springfree trampoline which claims to be the safest trampoline in the world. Our 15 year old loves it, our 4 year old loves it and our now 1 year old loves it. Tons of fun, good exercise. Do what BWIP said and throw a sprinkler underneath it in the summer, endless, cheap, summer fun.

 

Grew up with one, from birth. Parents still have it, grandkids now use it.

Never a single broken bone, by anyone. A couple of other types of injuries.

But I would recommend against it. We're aware of how lucky we were.

 

Maybe you should buy a trampoline so your kids won't want a bouncy house on their birthday...

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-injuries-from-playing-in-bounce-houses-up-sharply-20121126,0,6758219.story

 

abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellness/report-warns-trampoline-dangers/story?id=17292265#.ULPiZZLGWEA

 

'An estimated 98,000 trampoline-related injuries occurred in 2009, resulting in 3,100 hospitalizations, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Head and neck trauma account for 17 percent of injuries.'

But we're more concerned about people mixing energy drinks with alcohol.

 

I'm not exactly an overprotective parent, but no way in hell are my kids getting on one of those.

We have a neighbor who has a huge one and they unveiled it for their kid's 8-year-old birthday party. An hour later there was a concussion and a broken collarbone that they initially thought was a lot more serious based on the way the kid landed.

They got rid of it a few days later.

 

I wouldn't have one in my yard.
We don't have kids, so if I did have one in my yard it would seem like a creepy attempt to get children to spend time at my house.

 

Maybe you can exchange it for something less worrisome, like a drum kit and a box of shotgun shells.

 

I don't think a trampoline is any worse than buying your kid a bike. I'm pretty sure no one on this board is going to think twice about if the kid wants a bike beyond how much it may cost. Like most things you can get kids for outside play, there is a risk of getting hurt. Get one with netting, it helps a ton. Lay down a few ground rules with your kids that you probably would have for them even just playing in your house and let them have some fun. It is great exercise for them and exercise they don't realize they're getting.

 

Keep it. Survival of the fittest.