We have a state-of-the-art city park just a stone’s throw from our home.  It’s complete with walking trails, soccer fields, skate park, basketball courts, batting cages and all the other amenities a ‘good park’ could have.  It was a major factor in our decision to purchase in this neighborhood.  You know, “Location, location, location.”

We headed there a couple of days ago so the boys could play while I did my 40-minute walk around the trails.  On my first go-round, I noticed what appeared to be some unsavory characters huddled in a battered vehicle ‘doing business’ at an odd time of day…I immediately changed my route and walked only where I could eyeball the boys along my path.  Then, I came upon a mob of troubled-looking youth who had, it appeared, just trashed a walking trail with lots of broken glass.  A dark cloud was over their heads and I wondered where their parents were.  The girls in their skin-tight jeans and spandex tops couldn’t have been much older than 13.  The boys outnumbered them, and didn’t appear to have a whole lot of ‘grey matter’.  Sad.

I think we need to remind ourselves that we don’t live in Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood and Andy Griffith probably isn’t the guy we see playing catch with Opie at the ball field.  City parks don’t equal safety and wholesome environments, no matter how fancy their toys or how virtuous their signage.  Let’s be vigilante in this hour, with our children.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 18th, 2008 at 2:56 am and is filed under Home'sCool: homeschool helps, No Ordinary Child, No Ornery Child! solutions to parenting predicaments, Parenting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.