Mom sparks fierce debate after revealing she encourages her kids to climb UP the slide at the playground – but some people say it’s ‘selfish’

A mum has sparked heated debate after revealing she encourages her children to climb the slide at the playground – claiming the simple activity has had a host of benefits such as building confidence and teaching problem-solving skills .

Mother-of-two Emme Nye, 29, from Idaho, recently sparked a huge debate about whether or not children should be allowed to go on a slide after she posted a video on TikTok highlighting some of the reasons why she thinks it is essential for development.

Emme claimed that it not only helped improve children’s ‘gross motor skills’ but also taught her two young children important social cues, but some people criticized her for encouraging them to ‘break the rules’ ‘.

“I’m that annoying mom at the park who makes her kids go up the slide,” she began in her video.

“Not only that, I encourage them to climb the slide. I’m so passionate about it, I’ll get into verbal disagreements with parents at the park about why.’

In a follow-up video, the 29-year-old explained that she found that climbing on the playground was ‘much more engaging’ for children’s ‘bodies and muscles’ than just climbing the stairs.

‘There are also many social and emotional benefits,’ she added. ‘Depending on the child, the chip and the skills, they’re often not going to make it on their first try or every time they try.

‘The risk of that is very minimal, it’s fun, they just slide back. But they will feel discouraged and try again until they finally come out on top.

“The confidence they build by trying and trying again and finally succeeding is so good for their little developing minds.”

She explained that the activity ‘forces children to take turns in a more abstract way’ than just going up and down normally.

“My child now knows that going down has the right of way, so if she gets on the slide and someone wants to go down, she’ll slide down so they can go down and have their turn and then she’ll try again,” she continued.

‘Or, if she’s near the top, she’ll ask (the child), “Hey, can I finish and then you go down?”

‘It enforces communication and problem-solving skills and teaches them to look after each other, (it teaches) these unwritten rules of society.’

While many people agreed with Emme’s perspective, others weren’t here for the idea – and some even branded her ‘annoying’ and ‘inconsiderate’ for allowing her children to get on the slide.

”I encourage them not to follow the rules. Literally all I hear,’ one person wrote.

‘Rephrase that to say, “I’m that inconsiderate mom who doesn’t respect safety rules or other kids respectfully waiting in line to slide,” another outraged user commented.

Someone else said: ‘Definitely annoying’, while a fourth added: ‘If you love it so much, get a chip.

“You or your child own the park and the etiquette is to climb the steps, slide the slide, and not bump into each other.”

‘Me too, get off kid,’ wrote one supporter. Another said: ‘Yes, it’s great for muscle development.’

‘It’s SO GOOD for their bodies to go up,’ someone else wrote. Another comment simply said: ‘Totally agree.’

Some people, on the other hand, have warned about the dangers of the activity, with one teacher writing: ‘I’ve seen children being thrown from high up onto the slide as they climb up. (They are) hit by a child coming down and knocked down. Call an ambulance.’

“Lots of other ways to practice the same skills without being dangerously eight feet in the air,” another commented.

“While climbing a slide is great for gross motor skills, it creates a safety situation if other children are present,” another person wrote.

“I’ve seen kids climb winding slides, where they get plowed in because the kid at the top can’t see that there’s a kid below climbing up, and vice versa,” someone else agreed.

In a final video, Emme responded to someone who described her as ‘selfish’ and ‘fair’.

“I think it’s selfish and entitled to tell a child there’s only one way they can play with any toy, especially an open-ended toy like a playground,” she shot back.

‘There are no written rules, at least at any of the parks I’ve been to, that say a child has to sit on their bottom and face forward when going down the slide.

‘The more pointless rules you give them, the more you limit their creativity and cooperative play.

‘Believe it or not, children can figure these things out on their own if we let them. And that’s not to say that I’m always there watching and helping if needed.

‘Just because my child wants to go up the slide doesn’t mean yours can’t go down. They can take turns and they can figure it out.’

While chatting with Today about the internet’s mixed reaction to her video, Emme, who has a background in early childhood education, explained that she hopes talking about it will encourage other parents to sometimes let their children ‘break the rules’.

‘Climbing on a slide – or crawling – helps develop gross motor skills. They work more muscle groups and figure out how to use their bodies,’ she added.

‘You’re not going to get that by walking up stairs and holding handrails. They use their hands and feet at the same time, which means they are going to have cross-brain connections. These things are all so important for the development of bodies and minds.’