by Guest Blogger Nila Ridings
Nearly everyday I see something about “Let’s move!” America’s move to raise a healthier generation of kids. Well, that program seems to apply only to kids outside of Boca Quay, Florida.
With the new “no wheels” policy, kids in the Boca Quay Homeowners Association are probably supposed to sit inside on their computers honing their cyber-bullying skills!
This battle-ax of a board member hides behind a door when the TV cameras show up and yells, “No comment!” She had plenty to say in a letter warning homeowners to keep their kids inside, but “No comment” for the news media?
Where does this anti-kid attitude come from? It probably stems from the flood of lawsuits against HOAs where someone gets hurt. Tort lawyers have sure messed up the neighborhood, haven’t they?
When I was growing up, all the neighborhood kids played on the street. We rode our bicycles. Sure, there was the time when I went airborne over the handlebars of my pink Schwinn and messed up my face on the asphalt. But I didn’t sue the neighborhood. None of my friends ever sued the neighborhood after their own mishaps.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a proponent of kids playing on the Interstate. But childhood is all about being with your friends, and playing outside.
When you click on the link below, pay special attention to the little girl who says, “These people don’t know what freedom is!”
Honey, we all know what freedom WAS. But that was back before the nightmare known as Homeowners Associations.
There’s at least one townhome complex in Thornton, Colorado who has this same policy about kids playing with anything on wheels — not only can they not play in the driveways, but all manner of toys are blocked in the completely sheltered green spaces and park areas, where there are no vehicles or any liability issues. They’ve had that policy for at least three years now.
It’s ugly, isn’t it?