Parents weigh in: Should city staff supervise splash pads?

With school out for the summer, parents and children are crowding a new splash pad in northeast Las Cruces for relief from the heat.

“We really like coming here,” said Angie Smythe, who sat in the shade by the splash pad with her two young daughters.

The city’s requires an adult supervisor for children under 14 years old. However, there is no city representative present to enforce that rule.

“A lot of parents just send their kids over,” Smythe said. “You just see a lot of kids doing stuff they’re not supposed to.”

In one year, close to 20,000 children or adults had to go to the emergency room for injuries on splash pads, pool decks or water parks, according to the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System database.

Parents say a lifeguard or supervisor from the city could remind children not to run or roughhouse with other children on the splash pad.

“You never know what they’re going to do,” said Hope Davidson, who sat watching the splash pad with her two young children. “You want to make sure they’re behaving and they’re not getting hurt. Even though it’s really open, anything could happen.”

El Paso “spray parks” also don’t have any city staff supervising the children.