When Progress Sets Us Back: Step Counters and ‘Safe’ Playgrounds

We like to think of progress as a straight line, each new development moving us forward, making life easier, safer, better. But sometimes, what looks like progress on the surface is actually a step backwards, chipping away at instincts and skills that once came naturally. Two perfect examples? Step counters and so-called ‘safe’ playgrounds.

Step Counters vs. Listening to Our Bodies

There was a time when we moved because our bodies told us to. We stretched because we felt stiff, walked because we needed to go somewhere, rested because we were tired. Movement wasn’t a numbers game, it was a natural response to being alive.

Now? We have people pacing their kitchens at 11:58 p.m. to hit an arbitrary 10,000 steps. Sitting down for too long triggers a passive-aggressive nudge from a smartwatch. We’re outsourcing yet another natural instinct; body awareness, to a gadget on our wrist.

The problem isn’t movement itself, of course. Walking is great. Exercise is great. But when a device is the one deciding whether we’ve ‘moved enough’ for the day, we start ignoring the signals our own bodies are sending. Maybe we actually needed rest that day. Maybe we’d have walked further if we weren’t obsessing over a goal that ends in zeroes. But instead of trusting how we feel, we trust the data. And when technology starts overriding intuition, something’s gone wrong.

‘Safe’ Playgrounds vs. Risk Assessment Skills

Then there’s the other side of the coin: the way we’re wrapping the world in padding and calling it progress.

Take playgrounds. Once upon a time, they had metal slides that baked in the sun, monkey bars that required actual effort, and see-saws that, if used recklessly, doubled as medieval launch devices. There were bumps and scrapes, sure, but also lessons learned. You figured out how high you could climb before it got dodgy. You learned to fall and get back up. You took risks, and in doing so, you built the ability to assess risk.

Now, many playgrounds have been stripped of anything remotely challenging. Everything is low, soft, and designed to eliminate the possibility of injury. The irony? Studies suggest that making play too ‘safe’ doesn’t prevent risk, it just delays it. Kids who don’t get the chance to develop risk assessment skills in childhood don’t magically acquire them later. Instead, they grow up less confident in their own judgment, more prone to fear, and, ironically, more likely to get hurt when faced with real-world risks they never had to navigate before.

Finding Our Way Back

None of this is to say we should ditch step counters completely or start installing six-foot climbing frames over concrete. But maybe it’s time to question the idea that all progress is good just because it’s new.

Maybe we don’t need a screen to tell us whether we’ve moved enough, we just need to listen to our bodies. Maybe the safest playground isn’t the one with the most rubber flooring, but the one that teaches kids how to gauge risk for themselves.

Because real safety isn’t about eliminating every possible danger, it’s about knowing what to do when you meet one. And real health isn’t about hitting a number, it’s about moving in a way that feels right.

Progress should make us better, not just more monitored. And sometimes, the best way forward is to remember what we’ve always known.