I was thinking about my grade school, Garfield Elementary. It was a happy place and a happy time. The school and playground took up about half a block. We walked to school and enjoyed everything we encountered. There were always stray dogs, bugs, butterflies, caterpillars, birds, and sometimes rain or snow. The school ground was well appointed with teeter-totters, a fantastic jungle gym, and monkey bars. Reading stories was exciting, and we looked forward to recess and the nutrition breaks with milk and graham crackers.

Our great grandkids are just starting school, and I wonder what kind of memories they and their peers will have. Many will be dropped off by their parents rather than enjoying the little things you would see on a walk to school. Rather than a wide open and welcoming school grounds, some will be greeted by a chain link fence with a locked gate and metal detector. They may also be greeted by a policeman or security guard. There probably won’t be any teeter-totters or jungle gyms as the schools must protect themselves from paranoid parents, liability, and lawsuits.

The changes will come about due to the world we now live in. Our kids are being murdered in their schools because their grandparents don’t have enough backbone to kiss the NRA goodbye. The money from the gun lobby is more important than the children. The litigious nature of our country has killed a lot of playground activities.

This is not our America. We don’t want our public schools to look like prisons, and we don’t want to see playgrounds that are as austere as concentration camps.

Dave Thomas

8/32/2023