School Playgrounds: A Hidden Resource

Children often don’t have access to quality parks that are close by. Many people must travel distances that don’t make walking a good choice and they may not have access to transportation. These problems are exaggerated in urban areas. Urban areas are also disproportionately affected by climate change. There are many things that can be done to help mitigate some of these problems such as better public transportation and neighborhood development that builds with green infrastructure in mind. These are often costly and take many years to implement or build. There is a solution though that is cheaper and can quickly help mitigate some of the problems above. There are about 90,000 public schools in the United States and only a small fraction utilizes green spaces. Most school yards are inaccessible after school and on weekends. By opening schoolyards during non-school hours and turning them into green spaces we can open quality parks to almost 20 million people. By creating a quality park, we can also help to better the education and health of students during school hours. This research will look at the effects that parks can have on physical and mental health. It will also seek to understand the effects such projects may have on future education and environmental concerns. Suggestions will also be given about how to implement this project and where to implement it.