Editorial: Hey, city, leave those kids alone

Monday, Nov. 11, 2002 | 9:05 a.m.

Growing up in a city means spending a lot of time playing ball in the street. That's a fact of American life and has been for generations. Neighborhood streets did not see a lot of basketball and hockey years ago, but only because sporting goods stores did not sell portable hoops and goals. Today, such portables are common in neighborhoods and kids spend hours having some good fun and getting some good exercise. All that's changed is that many kids today prefer indoor activities, such as video games, and those who do get outside have added a little equipment.

Well, something else has changed too, at least in Henderson. Parents, principals, cops, city councilmen, local merchants -- practically everyone -- used to love to see kids burning off energy in ways that promoted friendship and tight, safe neighborhoods. Going out for a pass or pedaling backwards to catch a fly ball, even if it meant the occasional broken window or trampled flower bed, was vastly preferable to alternative youthful activities -- vandalism, drug use, drinking, fighting. The sound of kids playing in the street, much like the barking of a dog or the crying of a baby, was the sound of a healthy neighborhood. Yet today, in Henderson, they want to pass a law against it.

The Henderson City Council on Nov. 19 will consider an ordinance giving policemen the discretion to ban portable basketball hoops, skateboard ramps and hockey goals from neighborhood streets on the premise that they "impede the safe passage of motor vehicles." In our view, the safe passage of kids through childhood is far more important than the time of adults who wish to speed through neighborhoods. If children are having a little fun playing ball when a driver turns down the street, then the driver should slow down. If kids are being obnoxious and won't yield, then a little talk with their parents is in order, not a new ordinance.

Under the proposal, sporting equipment left unattended by the curb could result in a fine for the owner. But what's wrong with neighbors working this out for themselves? A new ordinance to govern this makes no sense, especially in a city that turned down a police bond issue in June 2001, resulting in the police chief drastically cutting back responses to neighborhood calls. We hope the City Council votes no on this proposed ordinance, and that adults pushing for it think back to their own childhoods.