School’s out for the summer; can you tell?
Even if you don’t have school-aged children, you can’t miss the fact that there are a ton of kids roaming the streets and hanging out at local parks these days. In fact, depending on what time of day you stroll by a public playground, you may be hard pressed to find even an inch to rest your tired tootsies.
Nice weather is hard to come by in my neck of the woods. Here in the Frozen Tundra, we’re lucky if the mercury hits the 80-degree mark for 10 consecutive days during the summer months. Given our inclement weather, it is not unusual to see groups of grown-ups gather at public parks in numbers that rival those of school kids. Only when they do, the cops typically leave them alone.
Apparently, this is not the case in the Big Apple.
According to news reports, a group of three women and one man were recently slapped with a $50 fine each for hanging out near a public playground in Brooklyn, New York, without a child.
The quartet is outraged by the punishment and has gone public with their story claiming that they were treated like “child molesters for doing nothing more than sit[ting] on a park bench.”
For the record, the police officers, who issued the group the fines, were correct in doing so. As it turns out, there is a posted sign which states that adults are not allowed in the play area if they are not monitoring a child. The offenders argue that the stipulation is posted in tiny print along with 14 other rules on the “barely visible” sign.
This story made me pause for thought. As a mom, I am all for cops upholding the law, especially when it comes to protecting innocent children. However, this is Brooklyn we’re talking about. You’d think the fuzz would have bigger fish to fry.
Then again, the rules are up for a reason. Perhaps, the cops know exactly what they are doing and whom they are doing it to.
What do you think? Should childless adults be banned from playgrounds in order to preserve the safety of kids?
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