Safety in Kindergarten

This story happened a little over a year ago. My son had lost a toy on the kindergarten playground and asked me to find it.

Without a second thought, I headed to the kindergarten yard after work to search for the missing item. The first hour of searching for the "precious treasure" in the grass was coming to an end — I can't call it anything else, because it was better not to show up at home without that toy 😁

Various thoughts crossed my mind at that moment. I couldn't help but think of people who rummage through gardens looking for certain substances)) It was getting late, and it wouldn't have been difficult to arouse suspicion from concerned passersby or the kindergarten security guard.

As I continued to carefully scan the thick grass on the playground, my gaze shifted to the gazebo where the children often spend their leisure time during walks — specifically, to the base of this gazebo. And then... my nerves started sending frantic alarm signals to my brain: out of the 10 load-bearing supports of the gazebo, 6 showed signs of through-corrosion and were literally see-through.

I looked at the gazebos in the neighboring areas — the picture was the same. The gazebos were painted with enviable regularity every year, but no one noticed, or pretended not to notice, the defects in the load-bearing metal structures.

I documented the whole mess on my phone, and then long and grueling negotiations began — first with the group teacher, then with the head of the institution. I won't describe the ways I persuaded, convinced, insisted, and compelled the kindergarten staff to first at least acknowledge the defects in the gazebo structure, and then take all necessary measures to eliminate them. I'll just say it took me over a month of talking. Then, it took another month for the kindergarten administration to fix the identified faults. The dilapidated sections of the supports were dismantled one by one, replaced with new sections, and then reinforced with concrete.

Photos of supports after repair
The reaction of the kindergarten administration is quite understandable; for years they lived without a care regarding these gazebos, under the illusion that painting was sufficient to maintain the entire infrastructure in working order. After all, they had ALWAYS done it that way, and NO ONE had ever pointed out the improper maintenance of the grounds.

As a result, our group's gazebo is now a model of order and a high-safety zone. It will be able to withstand any weather conditions for many years to come.

What I can particularly note is that the issue was resolved locally, without "washing dirty laundry in public" — at least not beyond the kindergarten grounds)

The moral of this story is this: do not ignore hazards! Otherwise, we stand every chance of becoming witnesses, or perhaps victims, of tragedies lurking in our daily lives…

P.S. The toy was found and handed over to safe hands!)