I agree with the banning of street games...
Not because I am a grouchy old fart. (At least, not only because of that. <g>).
I used to live in a suburban neighborhood with tons of kids. Street games like hockey and stickball would spring up frequently, and before long they would turn into organized events regularly scheduled for every afternoon. Soon, the kids began to act like they owned their streets, refusing to move when cars approached and forcing drivers to take detours. They showed no respect for older folks who lived on the street and had no kids, romping across their lawns at will to retrieve balls. When I was a kid, we were taught to respect neighbors' properties, not to cut across lawns, to be polite to our elders. Kids today act like they have entitlements to their games, and the neighbors be damned.
Also, in our litigious society, I don't blame towns for being concerned about potential liability for accidents or injuries. If some kid were to be hit by a car, these permissive parents would file suit against the city in a heartbeat for allowing the games and for not providing adequate protection.
Times have changed a lot. When I was young and there was a snowstorm, the town would quickly throw up sawhorses to block-off hilly streets in our neighborhood so we could use them for sledding. No town would dream of doing such a thing today. |
